Apartment rents are still rising in Philadelphia and there are still relatively few vacant apartments, despite a flood of new apartments. But vacancy rates are likely to inch up in the near future.

“By year-end, we expect 6,448 new units to deliver in the Philadelphia metropolitan area, with 1,905 of those located in the downtown market,” said Jared Jacobs, research manager for Cushman & Wakefield.

The percentage of vacant apartments in Philadelphia stayed at 3.9 percent in the second quarter, the same as the year before. “With the addition of this new stock, vacancy rates are forecasted to increase in both markets by 40 and 50 basis points, respectively,” said Jacobs.

In Center City Philadelphia, the new construction is more concentrated in a smaller area — 1,721 new units opened in 2016, the most ever. The overbuilding has taken its toll in that submarket, pushing vacancy rates to 9.4% in the second quarter.

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