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Owners of apartment buildings in the St. Louis area have been able to command increasing rents in the last few years, but that may change in 2008, despite higher demand.

That’s the prediction from RubinBrown, a Clayton-based accounting firm that tracks the local rental market and recently issued its annual report.

It found profits continuing to increase for apartment building owners through 2007, a change from most of the rest of the real estate industry, said Bryan Keller, partner-in-charge of RubinBrown’s Real Estate Services Group.

"Big picture-wise, there’s no secret that the apartment industry has fared better than other real estate sectors," Keller said.

And demand is continuing to grow, as people lose houses to foreclosure or put off purchasing them. But that doesn’t mean rents necessarily will grow cash loans with bad credit.

That’s because supply has increased — a result of for-sale condominium projects being converted into rentals — and the weak economy, which has people doubling up or moving in with family. So, while the average rent on a St. Louis-area market-rate apartment jumped 8 percent to $715 last year, don’t expect a repeat performance, Keller said.

"I don’t think you’re going to be getting rent increases this year," he said. "It’s going to be hard for somebody to have a property and expect a big rent. People will be looking for that moderate-income apartment."

tlogan@post-dispatch.com | 314-340-8291

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