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Rents are rising modestly for large apartment buildings in Tucson and the occupancy rate is slipping down, according to information released Wednesday by a rental market research firm.

In a survey of apartment buildings with at least 100 units, California-based RealFacts found that the average rent in Tucson was $658 in the second quarter of this year, up 3.8 percent from the same time period last year. The average occupancy rate, meanwhile, dipped to 93.8 percent from 95.5 percent the same time a year ago, according to the report.

RealFacts spokesman Chris Bates said Tucson's rent increase was moderate compared with many of the other markets his firm tracks, which include communities in the West, the Southwest and part of the Midwest.

Over the same time frame, the average rent jumped 6.8 percent in Salt Lake City, 5.45 percent in Austin, Texas, and 11 percent in San Jose, Calif., according to RealFacts.

Tucson had the third-lowest average rent of metropolitan areas surveyed by RealFacts. Rents were lower in Tulsa and Oklahoma City, Okla.

In Phoenix, the average rent rose by 3.7 percent, according to the research firm. As in Tucson, the occupancy rate also decreased in Phoenix, from 95 percent to 91.9 percent.

The situation in Tucson and Phoenix might stem from a variety of factors related to the real-estate market, said Terry Feinberg, president of the Arizona Multihousing Association, an apartment trade group.

Occupancy rates are expected to drop in the student-housing market in Tucson during the summer months, Feinberg said.

But the dip could also be related to the slowdown in the real estate market, and the abundance of unsold single-family homes, which are now being marketed to renters, he said. The same phenomenon is occurring on an even larger scale in Phoenix, he said.

"There is a competitive effect with the apartment industry, because often the price is competitive," he said.

But Tucson has an added twist in its market helping to prop up both rents and occupancy levels — no new supply of apartment buildings, Feinberg said. Rents have not been high enough to justify the cost of constructing new apartment buildings in Tucson over the past several years, so renters have a limited number of options, he said.

George "Hank" Amos III, president and CEO of commercial real estate firm Tucson Realty & Trust Co., said rents might be poised to increase in Tucson, partly because of the limited supply. Tighter lending requirements also will likely drive more would-be buyers into the rental market, he said.

"Now since the real estate market has shut down a little bit, they're not buying homes," he said. "They're going back into apartments again."

Amos added that the properties he represents have shown a slight increase in occupancy rates over the past year.

An ideal occupancy rate for a community is about 94 percent to 95 percent, Bates said. At that level, tenants have plenty of options and landlords have the ability to raise rents enough to keep up with the costs of maintaining or building new buildings, he said.

The dropping occupancy rate in some of Tucson's apartment buildings might lead to smaller increases in rents or decreases in the future, Bates said. More concessions, such as rent discounts, might also start showing up, he said.

Feinberg said that in both Tucson and the rest of the state, the market is healthy, despite a possible increase in concessions.

"I think it's a good equilibrium for both landlords and tenants," he said.