The average monthly rent, according to Carter, is at $609 or 74 cents per sf. By comparison, a year earlier rents averaged $636 per month. Carter factors concessions into his monthly rent tallies. Rents and vacancy rates varied depending on year of construction.

For pre-1980 construction, the first quarter vacancy rate was 14%, compared with 12% in the fourth quarter. The Palmer Park area had the lowest vacancy rate at 11% with the Security/Fountain area having the highest at 20%, for the older buildings. Rents for these units drop to $520 and 67 cents per sf in the first quarter for units built before 1980. At the end of last year, the average rent was $527 a month. The highest average rents were reported in the southwest part of the city at $617 and the Rustic Hills Area reported the lowest at $477.

For communities built in the 1980s, the average vacancy rate in the first quarter rose to 14%, compared with 11% in the fourth quarter. The north and north central areas had the lowest vacancies at 10%, while the east and south central areas reported the highest vacancy rates at 25%. For these units, the monthly average rent was $632 or 77 cents per sf, compared with $655 in the fourth quarter. The Palmer Park area reported the highestaverage rents at $712.

The newest apartments, built from 1990 on, showed an average vacancy rate of 11%, the only category to show an improvement from the fourth quarter, when it stood at 14%. The average rents were $850 per unit, or 88 cents per sf in the first quarter, about 5.5% better than the $806 average in the fourth quarter.