Survey: Puget Sound apartment vacancy rates drop – Puget Sound Business Journal

The vacancy rate among Puget Sound apartment rentals decreased to 4.7 percent this month, down from 5.3 percent last September, according to a survey of 20-unit and larger apartments published Monday.

The results excluded vacancies in new properties in lease-up and properties going through major renovation.

The survey, conducted by research firm Dupre + Scott, found that, although vacancies dropped in all types of units, three-bedroom units saw the most improvement, with a decrease from 6.3 percent vacancies last fall to 5.4 percent this month.

The survey also found that the Puget Sound region observed one of the lowest production years in the past four decades, as developers opened fewer than 1,800 units last year. However, research on new constructions shows that developers will open more than 5,000 units in 2012, and as many as 8,000 units annually for the next two years.

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