New quarter, new low for the Chicago area's warehouse vacancy rate.

So it goes for local industrial landlords, who ended 2014 with the smallest percentage of vacant space in 13 years, continuing a long run of leasing success, according to Seattle-based Colliers International.

Bolstered by an improving economy and demand that built up for years amid light construction during the recession, vacancy in the Chicago area fell to 7.7 percent  during the fourth quarter, Colliers said.

That's down from 8 percent in the third quarter and 8.7 percent a year earlier.

Suburban apartment dwellers didn't get any relief in 2014, and they shouldn't expect much this year, either.

The median net rent in the Chicago suburbs rose to $1.29 a square foot in the fourth quarter, another record, up 4.7 percent from a year earlier, according to a report from appraisal Research Counselors, a Chicago-based consulting firm. The occupancy rate was 95.3 percent, versus 95.1 percent a year earlier.

Suburban rents have increased five years in a row - they rose 21 percent over that period - as more people have held off on buying a home, either because they can't get a mortgage or are wary of owning after the housing crash. More recently, the improving job market has boosted demand for all housing, and apartment landlords are getting their share.

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