National Apartment Vacancy Rates Reach 30-Year High

PALO ALTO, Calif., Jan. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Incentives in the apartment rental industry are at an all-time high, and this is great news for shoppers wanting to rent cheap apartments. Some landlords are enticing would-be tenants with more amenities, lower up-front costs and reduced rent. The reason? The apartment vacancy rate hit a 30-year high of 8 percent nationally in the fourth quarter according to Reis, an independent real estate research firm.* Conflicting economic forces are responsible for the increased apartment inventories; unemployment, which precludes renting; and an enormous inventory of cheap homes for sale, which is stealing rental tenants away.

The housing surplus stems from climbing foreclosure rates, which are currently growing at a 3:1 ratio according to a November 2009 Lender Processing Services report. The quotient means that for every one mortgage approval, three have entered foreclosure. With unemployment at 10 percent; the highest since the recession began according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, it's clearly the culprit escalating foreclosures. This cause and effect relationship is decreasing home values, and spurring the increase in apartment vacancy rates by luring renters into homeownership, when previously they may have moved up to a cheap condo instead. The IRS's enticing $8,000 first-time home buyer credit (available through April), is another factor elevating the current rental vacancy surge.

Again, high vacancy rates mean good news for prospective renters. However; shoppers wanting to capitalize on the current situation are sure to be overwhelmed with the hundreds of thousands of rental choices. MyCheapApartments.com provides a personalized, targeted search approach, eliminating potential frustrations and optimizing results. The authority in cheap apartment search, MyCheapApartments.com connects visitors to a nationwide supply of rentals with a user-friendly interface, seamlessly guiding shoppers through the process. Consumers can search preferences such as apartment size, location and price and experience hassle-free shopping. The leading website for cheap rentals, MyCheapApartments.com supplies an immense categorized inventory of available apartments in the searcher's designated neighborhood.

Through strategic partnerships with the largest network of apartment landlords and resources across the country, MyCheapApartments.com has compiled one of the industry's largest databases of affordable rental units – an exclusive feature. The site also offers free tools including a credit consultation, credit reports, moving quotes, ID protection, and local contractor reviews. In addition to cheap apartments, the site features affordable rental units including condos, houses, duplexes, townhomes, lofts and even short-term furnished rentals. As the leading authority on cheap rental apartments, MyCheapApartments.com connects rental shoppers with the cheapest apartments in the country.

*source – Reis Mortgage Monitor Report

Background: Founded in 2009, MyCheapApartments is a new real estate search engine that seeks to revolutionize how consumers shop for rentals. With an unprecedented combination of user-friendly search and a large selection of listings, MyCheapApartments empowers users to find their perfect affordable rental.

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SOURCE MyCheapApartments.com