Almost everything in the real estate market is going down, like home sales and home prices. But here is one decline that can be taken as a bit of breather from all the bad news: U.S. apartment vacancies have dropped in the third quarter – the first in three years. This means that more and more people are deciding to move out of their families’ and friends’ places and renting their own places.

New York-based Reis Inc. released a survey of about 9.1 million apartments and found out that the national vacancy rate fell from last year’s 7.9% to 7.2% in the third quarter – the figure was at 7.8% in the second quarter. The vacancy rate is said to be the lowest since the 6.7% achieved in the fourth quarter of 2008 and the first year-over-year drop since fourth quarter of 2007. Vacancy rate was at a three-decade high late last year, when it hit 8%.

When the U.S. recession started two years ago, the trend of rental demand surge during the second and third quarters was interrupted. Declines in employment rates led many Americans to move in with parents or friends than renting their own places. Now, with the survey results, the trend seems to be coming back.

“Those guys are starting to move back to the rental market. What we’re seeing might be these folks who realized, ‘Hey, I love my father and mother, but I don’t think I can live with them forever. I’ll take a chance on a year long lease and maybe I can find a job in six to nine months,’” explains Reis director of research Victor Calanog.

Asking rents also increased to $1,037, just a bit of improvement from 2009’s $1,033 and second quarter’s $1,032. Actual paid rent (or effective rent) averaged $980, an improvement from last year’s $971 and second quarter’s $974.

The rise in the number of people renting could be a direct result of the rising home foreclosures. With foreclosures continually increasing, people are being forced to rent – add to this the fact that landlords, despite the weak economy, are offering concessions, rental numbers will surely continue to increase.

But whether or not the apartment market will continue to improve will depend greatly on job growth. If employment rate improves, the apartment market will follow.

Calanog further says, “If the pace of job growth is really lackluster, then I wouldn’t be shocked if vacancies suddenly rose in the fourth quarter.”

Vacancy rate during the third quarter is at its lowest in New Haven, Connecticut, home of Yale.