During the great recession, developers stopped building big apartment complexes and now that the economy is recovering they're scrambling to catch up.
New complexes are going up around town and several more are in the planning stages because the demand is high.
College student Evan Gardner is moving into his first apartment, but getting to this point wasn't an easy task.
"I've been on the waiting list for here for seven months now and I've been all over town and vacancies are very short lived and it's tough to get a spot," Gardner said.
Gardner found out just how tight the apartment rental market is in Sioux Falls.
"We have a lot of students; a lot of people from the medical community moving into Sioux Falls and a lot of people are just choosing to rent versus home ownership," Midwest Property Services representative Jill Madsen said.
Madsen says vacancy rates in her buildings are down to under one percent. One reason is because building new units came to a screeching halt in 2008 and 2009. But this new demand has Midwest Property Services constructing a 260 unit luxury complex at 54th Street and Sycamore on the Southeast side of town.
"We just started building and we already have five units pre-leased," Madsen said.
And the rent here will run a little more because of high-end finishes and amenities, but even in those basic units, rents are rising all across town.
"The demand is up so rents are on the rise," Madsen said.
But Gardner is just happy he's locked in to a good rate for the term of his lease.
"I'm very fortunate to get a spot here. I'm very happy," Gardner said.
Midwest Property Services also just completed a building with 28 apartments and will build another one with 24 in six months.
Several other companies have also planned to put up more units.
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