Amid the jobless recovery, some landlords are showering flat-screen TVs, cash, rent cuts and other incentives on tenants to encourage them to renew their apartment leases and thus avoid the expense of filling empty units.

The rise in unemployment has prompted tenants to seek roommates, move home or trade down to cheaper units. In the third quarter, the national apartment-vacancy rate hit 7.8%, a 23-year high, according to Reis Inc., which tracks vacancies and rents in the top 79 markets.

"Many companies are doing whatever they can to keep units occupied, especially heading into the seasonally slower leasing period," said Paula Poskon, an analyst with Robert W. Baird & Co.

The trends are taking a toll on the bottom line. Apartment Investment & Management Co., which owns and operates roughly 150,000 units nationwide, reported Friday that its funds from operations, a key REIT metric, fell to 19 cents a share from 60 cents a year earlier. UDR Inc., which has about 45,000 units on the West Coast and in Washington, D.C., reported earlier this month that its funds from operations dropped 42% to 19 cents.

"We do need job growth in order for our business to prosper," said David Neithercut, chief executive of Equity Residential , the country's largest apartment REIT by market capitalization. "I think 2010 will be another year of doing the best we can."