Mid-year rent and vacancy data demonstrates that apartments are well into recovery for King, Snohomish, Pierce and Kitsap counties. The 2021 Mid-Year Update was released by the multifamily investment team led by Dylan Simon and Jerrid Anderson of Kidder Mathews.

The report provides a real-time look at rental and vacancy rates, analyzes year-over-year trends, and provides a historical look at 20 years of market trends. While this is a high-level review of the data, this report provides an initial understanding of how the multifamily market has shifted throughout the last year.

The Puget Sound region’s apartment markets all reacted differently to the COVID-19 pandemic. For instance, urban markets across King County – both in Seattle and Bellevue – were most affected by falling rental rates and increasing vacancy. To that end, urban markets were the only ones where rental rates declined in all ages of buildings. However, as 2021 has progressed, Seattle’s mild recovery can’t match the Eastside’s rocket-fueled rental rate growth, says the report.