Rents for higher-end apartments up 5.7% in the Baltimore area

Apartment rents keep heading up.

The average effective rent for Class A apartments in the Baltimore metro area -- the nicer properties with amenities -- rose 5.7 percent in the last year to just under $1,450 a month, according to real estate research firm Delta Associates.

The big increase was in the city, up 6.7 percent -- more than double the annual average for the past five years. Effective rents in the Baltimore suburbs grew by a more modest 3.5 percent, just a hair more than the average, Delta said.

Delta tracks effective rent as a way of noting what tenants are actually paying, once specials such as "one week free!" are factored in.

"Healthy job growth and a limited supply in recent quarters have led to healthy rent growth and low vacancy in the Baltimore area," Delta said in a new report.

(The metro area has been averaging annual growth of 16,000 jobs so far this year, a bit more than during the same stretch in 2007, before the recession. But May, the most recent figure, didn't look good. We'll have to stay tuned to see whether it's a trend.)

Here's a bit of hope for tenants feeling the rent pinch: Builders have picked up the pace on construction new apartment units in the area, which could help shift the demand-supply seesaw in your favor.

A bit. Eventually.

Delta predicts that "vacancy will edge up slightly and rent growth is likely to moderate over the next 24 months."

Because Delta only follows the Class A market, your mileage may vary if you're renting (or renting out) an older apartment, a unit in a small building or a home. The Class A apartments in Baltimore -- clustered around downtown and the waterfront -- are in a totally different market than, say, rentals on the east side.

What are you seeing out there?

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