MINNEAPOLIS -- The apartment vacancy rate in the Twin Cities has climbed to the highest level in several years, mostly because of the dismal job market that has unemployed young people moving back with Mom and Dad and other folks sharing units.
The average vacancy rate in the metro area hit 7.3 percent at the end of 2009, according to the Minneapolis office of GVA Marquette Advisors, a real estate consulting firm. That's the highest rate since 2004 and a big jump from the 4.9 percent average vacancy rate at the end of 2008.
It's an increase clearly tied to lower demand rather than overbuilding. GVA said just 615 new market-rate apartment units were built in 2009, down almost 50 percent from 2008. Just 500 units are expected to come on line this year.
