Easing Rent Growth? Not Yet

Sacramento posted the month’s fastest month-over-month rent increases. (Photo by Tom Myers)

SANTA BARBARA, CA—The moderation in apartment rent growth that some industry observers are expecting for this year hasn’t happened so far in 2016, says Yardi Matrix. April rents nationally rose $13, or 1.1% month over month, to $1,194, the fourth consecutive all-time high, according to the firm’s Matrix Monthly report based on a survey of 115 markets.

Yardi Matrix’s report, issued Friday, says the survey reverses the declining trend in year-over-year growth, which had fallen to 5.7% in March after peaking at 6.7% in October. It bounced back up to 6.3% in April. “The strong performance comes as something of a surprise, since rent growth is expected to moderate this year after two years of above-trend increases,” the report states.