Seattle Renters Take the Biggest Wallet Hits

SEATTLE—Seasonal demand and increased activity are offsetting the wave of new apartments opened this year so far, translating into an even but moderately strong yearly growth across all apartment sizes. The national average rent reached an all-time high of $1,409 in July, up by 2.8% year-over-year ($39), and by 0.2% ($3) month-over-month, according to a RentCafe monthly rent report with data compiled from rents charged in the 250 largest US cities.

The biggest increases were in renter mega-hubs, Orlando (7.7%), Las Vegas (6.4%) and Phoenix (6.2%), while San Antonio (1.6%), Manhattan (1.7%) and Washington, DC (2%) had the slowest growing rents. Renters in Los Angeles, Tampa and Seattle took the biggest wallet hits, with the largest net amount increases during the year at an above-average pace.

The average rent in Seattle reached $2,075 in July, well above the US average of $1,409, according to the report. Seasonal demand and heightened activity have pushed Seattle rents up by 3.54% year-over-year and 0.3% month-over-month. While the annual growth is outpacing the national 2.8% rate of growth, more than 8,000 new units are projected to open in 2018 throughout the metro area, which is affecting prices and vacancy rates, according to Yardi Matrix data.

“Seattle renters are feeling one of the biggest hits to their wallets among the nation’s renter mega-hubs, with a net rent increase of over $70 per month compared to the previous year,” Nadia Balint, analyst with Yardi Matrix, tells GlobeSt.com. “Only apartments in Los Angeles, Orlando and Tampa saw higher net increases in the average monthly rate over the same period.”

Although one of the most active US multifamily markets, Seattle apartment rents are advancing at a relatively moderate pace similar to Denver, Houston and Dallas, while other large US cities have accelerated in 2018, with year-over-year gains around 6 to 7%, including Orlando, Las Vegas and Phoenix.

“Nevertheless, the local job market and Seattle’s attractiveness for Millennials are the two pillars which will continue to support the extraordinary demand for rental housing in the area,” Balint tells GlobeSt.com.

Rents in the large cities of Queens and San Diego surged by 8.3% and 4.9% respectively, but barely moved in Baltimore (0.7%) and Oklahoma City (2.1%).

Rents in the mid-size cities of Tampa (6%), Sacramento (5.7%) and Stockton, CA (5.5%) increased at the fastest pace. Other mid-sized cities struggling with increasing rents are Minneapolis (5.2%) and Pittsburgh (5.1%).

Aside from Midland and Odessa, TX, which have had apartment rents increase more than 30% in a one-year period, Peoria, AZ is the only other small US city to have a double-digit increase in rent in July (10.3%). In fact, the Phoenix metro has been on a growing spree all throughout 2018: Chandler (7.8%), Gilbert (7.5%) and Glendale (7.4%) were also among the top 20 small cities with the highest rent hikes in July.