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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

College Students Should Find No Shortage Of Apartments

Associated Press

After several tight years of few residences for students or even professors, the rental market in the Moscow-Pullman area appears to be opening up.

There are more dormitory vacancies and open apartments than at any time this decade.

But while students returning to the University of Idaho and Washington State University this fall will have more options, the prices have not eased.

“My waiting lists for apartments are lower this year than in four years. The market has definitely softened,” said Roger Oettli, director of housing and university residences at Idaho.

There are a lot more apartments being built and students are filling them up. Declining out-of-state enrollment has fewer students moving into the dormitories, Oettli said.

“There’s no doubt we are suffering in the kind of volume we’d like to have. I’ll have over 200 spaces available for women when we open.”

Four years ago, a housing task force projected a need for 750 rental units. That goal has almost been met.

“Between the university and the private sector, we have probably done 200 a year for three years, and as a result we have been able to respond to that need and we are getting back to a normal rental average,” said Don Mackin, co-owner of Palouse Properties.

The normal rental vacancy rate is 3 percent to 5 percent, said Mackin, who helps manage more than 600 units. For the last four years, it has been about 1 percent or less.

“Now it’s getting back to possibly a 3 percent vacancy, which is good,” he said, “because there’s always something available but now there is more choice.”

The downside, however, is that has not meant lower rents - yet. The average is $500 for a two-bedroom apartment and $400 for a one-bedroom, Mackin said, a significant rise over the last four years.

There may be some rental relief on the horizon, however.

“What has typically happened in both Moscow and Pullman is there’s been a seven- or eight-year cycle and we go from tight to normal to overbuilt,” Mackin said, “because once we get the bankers talked into loaning money, they sometimes continue to loan after it’s no longer needed.”