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Improving Inland Empire Apartment Market Becoming the Value Alternative

SPOKANE, WA-With vacancy rates falling, lease rates on the rise and capitalization rates here averaging 10%, investors are beginning to take a harder look at the Spokane apartment market, according local brokers and a recent study.

By Janet Parker | Updated on January 29, 2001

SPOKANE, WA-The apartment vacancy rate here has fallen below five percent, the lowest since 1996, find the latest study Washington State University. Consequently, rents have risen 5% over the past year, bringing them up to where they were three years ago before the lagging.

Multifamily property specialist Mitch Swenson of Spokane-based Tomlinson Black Commercial Inc. tells GlobeSt that as little as two-and-a-half years ago, vacancy here was up to almost 10%. “Across the board we’re seeing an improvement in sales of apartments,” says Swenson. “Vacancy rates have been our Nemesis here, but the market has tightened up.”

Average rents on 20-year-old properties are running of 60-65 cents/sf, with newer complexes able to fetch slightly more, says Swenson, adding that the majority of calls he gets on listings are from investors outside the Spokane area. “When they can’t buy anything (in Western Washington) for over an 8% cap, we can entice them with rates of 9.5% to 10%.”

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