A lack of demand, rising vacancy and falling rents will continue to plague the Hartford metro area apartment market well into 2009, according to an outlook from the New Haven office of national multifamily real estate firm Marcus & Millichap.

The firm predicted vacancy would rise 150 basis points to 6.7 percent, while asking rents and effective rents would decline 1.2 percent and 1.7 percent, respectively.

In the report, the authors suggest declining employment could lead to the area’s first decline in occupied apartments in five years.