(Mark Your Calendars: RealShare Apartments East, February 15^th in Washington, DC).

BOCA RATON, FL—When it comes to regional markets, the tide will lift all boats this year. In fact, the apartment market will have few worries until 2013 or 2014, when homeownership begins to improve and new deliveries start coming to the market. That was the main takeaway from the discussion on apartment markets across the country, during the National Multi Housing Council’s Apartment Strategies Conference. It was held on Tuesday immediately preceding NMHC’s 2012 Annual Meeting, which drew over 2,000 industry professionals.

Moderator Hessam Nadji, managing director of Marcus & Millichap, kicked off the discussion with a presentation on current conditions. He noted that nearly every apartment market across the country has improved since hitting the bottom in 2009, with the US average vacancy dropping 260 basis points since then. Austin, TX; Jacksonville, FL; Charlotte, NC; Phoenix; and Dallas/Ft. Worth all showed the greatest improvement in vacancy, with declines ranging from 510 to 440 basis points over the past two years. Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Jose, Chicago and Washington, DC showed the least improvement in vacancy.