Apartment rents are moving up at a much slower pace, veering from quite a different pattern seen earlier this spring. From March to June, rents rose by 1.3%, the fastest growth over any comparable period since the summer of 2017. However, Apartment List researchers say that a closer look at the data shows that since June, rents have essentially been flat, marking an early end to the summer spike in rent prices.
“The robust growth we saw from March through June was one of the sharper seasonal spikes that we’ve seen in recent years,” researchers note in Apartment List’s November report. “That spike ended relatively early in the season though, and we have since seen a return to the stagnant rent growth that characterized the market earlier in the year.”
The year-over-year growth rate for rents is 1.4%, which is far below the rates that ranged between 2.1% to 3.5% from 2014 through 2017.
Rent growth is lagging the growth in average hourly earnings, which have risen 2.9% over the past 12 months, researchers note. That likely is a welcome relief to renters, many of whom may still be continuing to struggle with housing affordability.
Some pockets around the country are defying the national trend and still see a faster growth in rents. The Las Vegas and Phoenix metros are seeing the fastest growth over the past year. Mesa, Ariz., just outside of Phoenix, saw an increase of 5% over last year—more than three times the national rate. Henderson, Nev., just outside of Las Vegas, saw the second-fastest rate of rent growth at 4.1%.
Source: “November 2019 National Apartment List Rent Report,” Apartment List (Oct. 29, 2019)
