Despite an influx of 9,500 new apartments in Metro Atlanta, multifamily landlords should see their vacancy rates slip this year to the lowest level since the end of the Great Recession.

Rising housing prices and a growing population are keeping demand ahead of new apartment supply, a recent Marcus & Millichap report found, dropping vacancy to 4.8% by year's end.

“The tight rate is prompting the construction pipeline to expand with a slew of new projects completing in 2019 and 2020,” Marcus & Millichap officials said in the report. Those projects are primarily focused on Downtown Atlanta, Buckhead and Decatur.

At the same time, rents in Metro Atlanta continue an upward trend in 2019. Marcus & Millichap predicts the average effective rent in the area will hit $1,284 a month by the end of the year, a new record. Apartment rents have spiked in recent years, climbing 37% since 2014.