The vacancy rate has dropped to very low levels, with the fourth quarter of 1998 at 1.5 percent compared to its year-before counterpart of 2.0 percent. Though this data source does not cover the entire rental housing market, it can be assumed that when vacancies are very low, all segments will be affected. This data source covers only a portion of rental housing in the Twin Cities area 134,750 rental units during fourth quarter 1998. In contrast, multifamily units number in excess of 350,000 in the region. Data compiled by Apartment Search Profiles on a quarterly basis.
Coverage is best in higher-cost, suburban units.
In areas with higher proportions of older and more affordable units the data are likely to be less strictly applicable. For example, Minneapolis and St. Paul units covered by the data number less than 38,000, whereas there are actually more than 150,000.