Chicago-area landlords felt the effects of an embattled real estate market in the first quarter as the vacancy rate in the city’s retail properties rose to 12.1 percent, Crain’s Chicago Business reported.

That increase, from 11.9 percent, marked the 11th consecutive quarter that vacancy rate has climbed since the second quarter of 2007.

Landlords’ average asking rents also rose slightly, for the first time in six quarters, giving the market “a better feel” as more site selectors tour potential locations, said Allen Joffe, a principal with retail brokerage Baum Realty Group LLC.

And though it could signal a recovery, Joffe said the penny hike in asking rents did little to quell new concerns of a double-dip recession, similar to that of the early 1980s when the economy receded after a short-lived growth spurt.

Illinois’ 11.5 percent unemployment rate is also fueling anxiety in the market.

“I would expect to see a very slow rise in asking rents,” said landlord representative Joe Parrott, a senior vice president with CB Richard Ellis’ retail services group. “I think things have stabilized.”

Asking rents were $15.82 a square foot during the first quarter, up from the prior quarter but down 3.5 percent since the first quarter of 2009.

The previous high in vacancies before the current run-up was in the fourth quarter of 2002, when the rate stood at 11.13 percent.

Parrot said one of the reasons for recent asking-rent increase is that more smaller spaces hit the market in the first quarter than large spaces. He noted that small retail spaces typically charge higher rents per square foot than big spaces.

Crain’s reported that the Chicago market’s most active retailers are fast-food restaurants, dollar stores, auto parts stores and grocery stores.