The March survey, by MarketPoint Realty Advisors in San Diego, shows that the rate is still well below 3%. But at 2.58%, the rate is still at its highest level in five years.
The rise is the vacancy rate is largely due to an increase in the high-end, or luxury, portion of the market--apartment buildings of more than $1,000. Of the 3,035 units reported vacant, just 290 were priced at less than $800 a month, according to the MarketPoint survey.
San Diego apartment rents remained flat for more than a decade, from the mid-1980s until the mid-1990s as a result of the California recession and overbuilding. But in the late 1990s, the area's economy boomed, creating demand for thousands of new units to meet the area's spiraling population.
Rent hikes of up to 12% annually have not been uncommon. However, in the past year, average rent increases have slowed to under 6%, according to the MarketPoint survey.
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