Apartment markets in Pierce and Kitsap counties are holding up better than the King/Snohomish market, according to Tom Cain of the research firm Apartment Insights.

Vacancy in Pierce is 6.3 percent, up from 6.1 percent in the first quarter, Cain said in a news release. The market peaked in the third quarter of 2008, with vacancy at 4.3 percent.

University Place/Fircrest is the tightest submarket in Pierce County, at 5.1 percent vacancy, and Puyallup is the weakest, at 7.9 percent.

In Kitsap County, vacancy is 5 percent. Silverdale is the strongest submarket in that county at 3.3 percent vacancy, and Bremerton the weakest at 6.5 percent, Apartment Insights said.

The firm doesn't have historical data for Kitsap County.

In Pierce and Kitsap counties landlords are offering concessions or incentives of $31 per month on average, Cain said.

In Pierce and Kitsap counties average rents are $833 per month. That is 98 cents per square foot in Pierce and 99 cents per square foot in Kitsap, Cain said.

In Pierce, Puyallup has the highest rents, at $976 per month, or $1.04 per foot. Rents are lowest in Lakewood, at $774 per month, or 98 cents per foot.

In Kitsap, Silverdale has the highest rents, at $957 per month, or $1.04 per foot. The lowest rents are in Port Orchard at $750, or 92 cents per foot.

Rents have traditionally been higher in the King/Snohomish County market than in Pierce and Kitsap, Cain said, and this won't change in the foreseeable future. However together Pierce and Kitsap counties are averaging a vacancy rate of 6.1 percent versus 7.2 percent for King/Snohomish, Cain said.

A major factor in the relative health of the Kitsap and Pierce markets is the lack of new construction, Cain said. There are no 50-unit-plus properties under construction in either of those counties, and 633 units in planning stages in Lakewood, Puyallup, and Tacoma South.

In King/Snohomish more than 2,500 units opened in the second quarter alone.

The national vacancy rate for rental housing is 10.6 percent, said Cain, citing a Department of Commerce's Census Bureau report.