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There is no question that 2012 was a good year for landlords. Rental rates continued to rise, as they have since 2010. Nationwide, the year ended with an average vacancy rate of 4.5%, a huge drop from the 8% high in 2009, according to real-estate research firm Reis Inc.
"The last time vacancy plunged to this low of a level was during the late 1990s when real GDP was growing substantially faster than the 2% growth rate that the economy is currently struggling to maintain," said Victor Calanog, vice president of research and economics for Reis, in a statement.
Stan Humphries, the chief economist of Zillow, says the rental market continues to be a bright spot in the overall housing market.

San Jose, Calif.

•  Effective rent at end of 2012: $1,616
• Rent increase from 2011: 5.4%
• Vacancy rate: 2.8%
• Forecasted effective rent growth in 2013: 5.3%

This Silicon Valley city is the largest in the Bay Area in terms of population. The city is full of high-tech employees who will likely keep paying as rents rise, particularly since apartments are hard to find and some renters may not be able to afford to buy homes. The median price of a single-family home in the fourth quarter of 2012 was $685,000, according to the National Association of Realtors. Humphries says the market has seen double-digit home value appreciation in the past year.

San Francisco

• Effective rent at end of 2012: $1,970
• Rent increase from 2011: 5.7%
• Vacancy rate: 3.2%
• Forecasted effective rent growth in 2013: 5.2%

San Francisco's rental prices have been steadily rising, thanks to an ongoing influx of tech workers. Competition is fierce, as evidenced by stories of horrendous home hunts and "rental concierge" services that do the legwork for you. This is another market where even steep rents are probably a bargain compared with buying a home. The median price of a single-family home was $593,200 at the end of 2012.

Seattle

• Effective rent at end of 2012: $1,060
• Rent increase from 2011: 5.8%
• Vacancy rate: 3.8%
• Forecasted effective rent growth in 2013: 5.2%

Big companies such as Microsoft and Amazon drive up demand for housing in Seattle, but the city's unique geography means supply is limited. Rents in Seattle increased the most of any U.S. market in 2012, but a large number of new apartments are expected to come on the market in 2013, which could eventually have an effect on rental rates and/or vacancies. NAR puts Seattle's median single-family home price at $313,300 at the end of 2012.

Minneapolis

• Effective rent at end of 2012: $980
• Rent increase from 2011: 4.2%
• Vacancy rate: 2.4%
• Forecasted effective rent growth in 2013: 5%

The bigger of the Twin Cities has seen a boom in apartment construction, but that hasn't stopped prices from rising or boosted vacancies.
"The rental market is quite healthy right now," Mary Bujold, the president of Maxfield Research Group, a Minneapolis housing research firm, told the Minneapolis StarTribune. "Until people really gain some good confidence in the for-sale market, it's going to be this way for a while."

Dallas

• Effective rent at end of 2012: $802
• Rent increase from 2011: 3.9%
• Vacancy rate: 5.4%
• Forecasted effective rent growth in 2013: 5%

There is an apartment boom in all of North Texas, with about 20,000 units currently under construction. That construction is happening in Dallas proper, as well, and Reis said in mid-2012 that signs of the recession are long gone. Vacancies are down, and demand is up. The median price for a single-family home in the metropolitan area, which includes Fort Worth and Arlington, was $157,200 at the end of 2012, according to NAR.

Denver

• Effective rent at end of 2012: $871
• Rent increase from 2011: 4.3%
• Vacancy rate: 3.9%
• Forecasted effective rent growth in 2013: 4.9%

Vacancy rates in Denver are about as low as they can go, according to the Apartment Association of Metro Denver. And the biggest rent increases in 2012 were for efficiency apartments.
"This suggests that people are looking for the smallest, least expensive unit they can find in many cases, and that drives up rents for the smaller units too," Ryan McMaken, economist for the Colorado Division of Housing, told the Denver Business Journal.
A house in Denver or nearby Aurora would cost an average of $254,800, according to NAR.

Portland, Ore.

• Effective rent at end of 2012: $848
• Rent increase from 2011: 4.9%
• Vacancy rate: 3.3%
• Forecasted effective rent growth in 2013: 4.7%

Portland is one of the nation's tightest rental markets, and thousands of apartments are being constructed to meet demand. According to the Oregonian, the biggest demand is in studio apartments, for which the average rent grew 30% in two years. The newspaper reports that increasing demand for rentals comes from a combination of factors: Former homeowners who lost their homes during the foreclosure crisis are now renting, and those who combined households to save money are now moving out on their own.
NAR says the median price for a single-family home in the Portland metro area, which includes Beaverton and Vancouver, Wash., was $242,000 at the end of 2012.

Houston

• Effective rent at end of 2012: $787
• Rent increase from 2011: 5.5%
• Vacancy rate: 7.1%
• Forecasted effective rent growth in 2013: 4.6%

The New York Times reported in December that Houston is one of a number of cities experiencing an apartment building boom as developers rush to capitalize on rising rents. Texas' biggest city is fueled by the energy industry and is regularly on the Forbes list of fastest-growing cities.
NAR reported the median single-family home price for the area including Houston, Baytown and Sugar Land at $167,800 at the end of 2012.

Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

• Effective rent at end of 2012: $1,109
• Rent increase from 2011: 3.8%
• Vacancy rate: 4.1%
• Forecasted effective rent growth in 2013: 4.6%

The rental market in Fort Lauderdale has been strong the past few years, in part because its buying market has struggled.
Home values in Fort Lauderdale and nearby Miami have taken a significant hit — about 50% according to Zillow — since the peak of the housing market, but they are bouncing back. Humphries says home values appreciated about 9% over the past year. NAR reported the median single-family home price in the region at $213,000 at the end of 2012.

Austin, Texas

• Effective rent at end of 2012: $862
• Rent increase from 2011: 3.8%
• Vacancy rate: 4%
• Forecasted effective rent growth in 2013: 4.6%

Austin's rental market has been on fire for a couple of years now. Rents and occupancies hit record highs this year, according to Capitol Market Research, an Austin-based real-estate consulting firm.
Several large apartment complexes are under construction downtown, where occupancy is above 97%. Rents in that highly sought area are more than twice the average in the larger area.
The overall housing market has been performing well here, too. The median single-family home price was $203,100 at the end of 2012, according to NAR. And Zillow's figures indicate that home prices here are down less than 3% from their peak.