All the counties of the Hudson Valley show a favorable rental market for investment. The average 2017 HUD fair market rent for a two-bedroom apartment in the Hudson Valley, together the counties of Dutchess, Westchester, Rockland, Ulster, Putnam, and Orange, is $1,510 per month, up 4.4% from 2016. The 2017 Ulster County Rental Housing survey reports average two-bedroom rents of $1,143, up 5.9% over 2016, with an overall vacancy rate of 2.65% versus 2.36% for 2016. The 2016 Dutchess County Rental Housing Survey reported a 2.0% vacancy rate for market rate apartment complexes, up from 1.8% in 2015, but near a 20 year low, and average two bedroom monthly apartment rents of $1,429, up from $1,379 in 2015. These two surveys are representative of the rental conditions in the counties north of Westchester and Rockland and even with the year to year fluctuations these results are indicative of a very tight rental market for tenants that overwhelmingly favors property owners. Avalon Bay’s suburban class A New York portfolio, mostly in Westchester County, increased the average rental rate 1.8% to $3,041 in 2017 over 2016, and the full year 2017 economic occupancy rate 0.2% to 95.7%.