The Bay Area topped Marcus & Millichap's National Multifamily Index released yesterday, with San Francisco and San Jose grabbing the top two spots of the 46 markets studied.

All 46 markets are forecast to have continued employment gains and rent growth this year. San Francisco and San Jose's continued gains in tech employment and incomes and intense housing demand caused the cities to perform well in the ranking. New York City rounded out the top three on the multifamily index just days after an office report found that San Francisco had edged past Manhattan for the nation's highest office rents.

The index is part of Marcus & Millichap's 2016 US Multifamily Investment Forecast, which found the nation's apartment market ready for another year of expansion, marking the seventh year of rent growth and demand. In 2015, the multifamily investment market absorbed the largest wave of completed units since the 1980s, the firm reports.