The market vacancy rate in the Puget Sound region is 3.8%. That's the lowest it has been since 2007. It doesn't get that low very often. In fact, it has been that low just three other times in the past 30 years. These are some of the findings of our just-completed survey of 20-unit and larger apartments in the Puget Sound region.

Dupre & Scott released their weekly report last Friday entitled "Linkin' Silver Linings to the Apartment Investment Playbook" In this report they focussed on 5 key investment trends for multifamily properties sales of 5 or more units in King, Pierce and Snohomish counties (WA).

This issue of the Barry Apartment Report is based on the recent speech given by Mark D. Barry, MAI, Apartment Appraiser, with research and professional contribution from Patrick O. Barry, Appraiser Assistant and Phillip E. Barry, Apartment Broker.

Dupre & Scott released a very interesting report on Puget Sound area apartment cap rate trends today. Read the report on "busted knee caps" here or watch the video below.

Establishing a Smoke-Free Policy in an apartment community is becoming a growing trend with landlords in Washington and across the country. Property owners find this kind of policy is good for business and a clear win-win, lowering costs and risks for an owner and providing a healthier, safer, greener environment for happier residents.

Seattle - Apartment Insights survey shows rents flattening after three quarters of impressive gains, and SR 520 tolls negatively impacting some Eastside submarkets, reports Tom Cain of Apartment Insights. The data are from his Seattle firm’s 4th quarter statistics and trends on 50+ unit properties in the King/Snohomish market.

VACANCY: 4.75%
The vacancy rate for conventional, stabilized 50u+ properties in the King/Snohomish market is 4.75%, down from 4.85% last quarter, and 5.25% a year ago.

From the start of 2012 Salem-Keizer has continued to experience a decrease in vacancy rates.
The vacancy factor has adjusted from a low of 2.95% in 2007 to a high of 6.13% in 2010 back to 3.07% by fall of 2012.
Average rent in Salem-Keizer for a 2 bedroom 1 bath unit with no amenities built 1990 or newer is $678.00.
Likewise average rent in Salem-Keizer for a 2 bedroom 1 bath unit with no amenities built after 1990 is $601.00.
Landlord concessions have decreased.

Now that the holidays are behind us, anyone who was not able to move before they rang in the New Year will be resuming their search for a new home. Follow up is the key to closing the sale when no decision is made on the first visit. However, many leasing people still hesitate to keep in contact with their prospective renters or make call backs on the appointments that are no shows. This question may shed some light as to why this occurs:

Greater Investor Optimism in Retail, Especially for National Regional Malls; Technology Office Markets and Warehouse Sector Showed Steepest Cap Rate Declines in Q4

As 2012 drew to a close and the industry's recovery progresses, commercial real estate offered varied investment opportunities across each major sector and a diverse number of cities, even though macroeconomic uncertainties still exist, such as the fiscal cliff, according to the fourth quarter 2012 findings of the PwC Real Estate Investor Survey.

The cost to insure apartments increased by 9.5 percent between 2011 and 2012, marking the second consecutive year of rising insurance expenditures according to the National Multi Housing Council’s (NMHC) Apartment Cost of Risk Survey (ACORS). The survey covers data from more than one million apartment units, the largest number of units covered by the survey to date, operated by 55 apartment firms, tracking three principal components of insurance premiums: property, general liability and workers’ compensation.