Higher unemployment is pounding apartment buildings in the Tampa Bay area as people flee the market or move in with friends and relatives.

Local apartment vacancies have risen from 6.5 percent to 8.3 percent the past year. Average rent has declined a hair to $826 per month.

The numbers come from the firm of Marcus & Millichap. Here's a synopsis in the company's own words:

Vacancy in the Tampa market will edge higher over the remainder of 2008 due to the effects of slower job growth on housing demand. While an eventual economic recovery will reverse current trends, vacancy continues to rise, despite an elevated level of foreclosures. The migration of some residents from owner-occupied to rental housing
appears to be only limiting the increase in vacancy, however, as housing demand remains weak. Reductions in most employment sectors continue to be recorded, resulting in the projected creation of just 10,000 households this year, compared with more than 20,000 households annually a few quarters ago.

It's interesting that despite foreclosures, demand for apartments is still ebbing. I'd attribute that in part to the plethora of vacant suburban homes available. My street is well supplied with families renting unsold investment houses. These are people who would otherwise rent apartments.

The housing glut might explain why apartment vacancies have spiked most dramatically in central Tampa and Brandon. Marcus & Millichap said central Tampa's vacancy rate more than doubled the past year from 3.3 percent to 7.6 percent. Brandon's went from 6.9 percent to 10.1 percent.

I'd suggest that, in Tampa's case, unsold condos available for lease slashed demand for traditional apartment buildings. Something similar is happening in Brandon, though the rentals of choice there are houses and town homes.

Central St. Petersburg did much better. It's rate fell from 7 percent to 6.9 percent, despite a spate of office relocations from downtown that could have reduced demand for rentals.