DALLAS-According to locally based apartment research firm Axiometrics Inc., April 2013's annual multifamily permits at the national level increased by 43.5% from the same period the year before. The multifamily permit number stood at 305,119 units, edging past its long-term average monthly rate of 290,000 units.

The statistics demonstrate that multifamily permitting has been above 200,000 units for 18 consecutive months. The top 10 metropolitan statistical areas for multifamily permitting for the trailing 12-month period ending in April were:

The report also points out that, while still positive, apartment market fundamentals slowed somewhat in April 2013. Nationally, annual effective rent growth softened to its slowest pace in the past 32 months. The growth rate had held fairly steady between 3.53% and 3.84% from June 2012 to February 2013, then slowed to 3.22% in March 2013, and declined further to 3.11% in April 2013.

The occupancy rate, meanwhile, increased slightly to 94.6% in April 2013 and is up about 50 basis points from the same period a year ago. U.S. apartment occupancy is forecasted to peak at 95.7% in Q3 2013 before the effects of the supply pipeline are felt, at which point occupancy will begin to decline.