MichiganMultifamily The stats prove it: Detroit-area apartment units still drawing in the renters Dan Rafter December 15, 2019 Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on LinkedIn Share via email Detroit isn’t unlike most Midwest cities when it comes to its multifamily market: Construction of new apartment units is rising while vacancies of existing ones are falling. That’s the takeaway from Marcus & Millichap’s fourth-quarter Detroit multifamily report. According to the report, Detroit’s multifamily vacancy rate will drop to 3.2 percent by the end of the year. This is the continuation of a trend: Marcus & Millichap reports that Detroit’s apartment vacancy rate fell to its lowest level since 2000 in the third quarter of the year. On a year-over-year basis, the area’s multifamily vacancy rate has dropped 50 basis points on a year-over-year basis. The news is good when it comes to monthly rents, too. Marcus & Millichap reported that after climbing 3.8 percent last year, the average effective rent hit a new high in 2019, reching $1,007 a month in the fourth quarter. That’s an increase of 4.6 percent in effective rents. With the market this strong, it’s not surprising that developers have reacted. Marcus & Millichap reported that developers will have completed 1,400 new apartment units during 2019. That’s well above last year, when developers added 800 units to the Detroit market.