If you're looking at renting an apartment in downtown Minneapolis or uptown, now is the time to do it. What is becoming a bust for landlords is turning out to be a boom for renters.

For the past month, Tricia Severson has been looking for an apartment to rent in downtown Minneapolis or in uptown. Price is her number one concern mainly because, she says, she doesn't have a full-time job.

Apartment Search, which helps people find a place to live, says it's seeing more people who have lost jobs or can't get a job out of college.

From October through December of last year, just over five and a half percent of apartments were vacant in downtown Minneapolis. According to GVA Marquette Advisors, the group that oversees apartment trends in the Twin Cities, some apartment communities are seeing greater vacancies in the first quarter of this year.

For example, Symphony Place Apartments, across from Orchestra Hall, are eight percent vacant. Denise Flood, of Laurel Village—the largest apartment complex in the downtown area—wouldn't give us numbers but said, "The last time we saw a market similar to this was post 9-11 era of 2001."

Flood says the complex has dropped rent prices significantly.

"Economic conditions downtown play a factor in demand for apartments so clearly when jobs aren’t being formed, households aren't being created," Flood said.

It's not just the lack of job opportunities that has stunted the rental market in downtown Minneapolis and Uptown. New condos that can't sell are turning into rental properties—this is often called the shadow market. New construction has also added to the competition, so existing apartments have resorted to special promotions.

According to GVA Marquette Advisors, more than seven percent of downtown St. Paul apartments for rent were vacant in the fourth quarter of 2008.