Study: Seattle rent hikes average highest in nation

SEATTLE -  Seattle apartment rents rose higher in the past year than anywhere in the nation, a commercial real-estate study reported.  The study by New York-based Reis tracked rent increases in 81 major U.S. cities, the Seattle Times reported.  The report found that the average rent in Seattle increased 6 percent in the last year, higher than other cities like San Francisco, San Jose and Boston.   Reis reported that Seattle's rents rose more than twice as fast as the national average of 2.6 percent.

Seattle area's average asking rent was $1,150, in the second quarter, the Reis study reported.

The vacancy rate in King County last spring was 3.32 percent, the lowest since 1998, according to another study by apartment research firm Dupre + Scott.