Multifamily Rents Jump in March, Post Strong Quarter

Average multifamily rents rose by $6 to $1,407 on a year-over-year (YOY) basis in March, according to Yardi Matrix.

With the 0.6% YOY and 0.8% quarter-over-quarter jump, multifamily rents had one of the strongest first quarters in a few years, according to Yardi. Additionally, rents posted a 0.4% month-over-month growth in March, rising 20 basis points from February.

Out of 134 markets surveyed, 114 had flat or positive YOY rent growth. Additionally, 19 of the top 30 metros had flat or positive YOY rent growth in March.

Western locales, including the Inland Empire (8.3%), Sacramento (7.3%) and Phoenix (6.9%), posted the largest YOY growth. Tampa (5.0%) and Atlanta (4.7%) also posted strong YOY rent growth, benefiting from strong migration and limited new supply. For instance, completions in Tampa and Atlanta over the last 12 months totaled only 2.3% and 2.5% of inventory, respectively.

Yardi also said expensive coastal metros are beginning to bounce back, with New York (-13.6% YOY) and San Jose (-12.0% YOY) bottoming out. In fact, San Jose (0.9%) joined Sacramento (1.0%) in having the highest short-term rent growth.

Twenty-six of the top 30 markets had flat or positive month-over-month rent growth in March. Yardi notes that Raleigh, which dropped 0.9%, was an outlier among the strong Southeastern markets. The reason could be that 3.9% of stock has been completed in Raleigh during the last 12 months. Raleigh was second only to Austin, with the second most deliveries over the last 12 months.

While lifestyle rents have been hit the hardest during the pandemic, they rose 0.5% month-over-month. Rents in renter-by-necessity apartments, which had been performing better during the pandemic, only increased 0.3%.

Twenty-seven of the top 30 metros had flat or positive month-over-month lifestyle rent growth. Half of the top 30 metros also saw positive lifestyle rent growth.

Yardi thinks things will continue to improve with the $50 billion of emergency rental assistance and other support to the housing industry that was included in the most recent federal aid package. “This funding is bound to have a positive effect on occupancy and rent growth throughout 2021,” Yardi’s analyst’s state.

A recent report from Apartment List echoes Yardi’s sentiment about an improving rental market. In March, Apartment List’s national index jumped by 1.1%, which was its largest monthly increase going back to the beginning of 2017. That doubled historical growth in the month. In the previous three years, March’s year-over-year rent growth was 0.6%.

Recently, Apartment List’s index started growing ahead of seasonal trends. It saw improvement in both pricey coastal markets and smaller cities that have grown popular through the pandemic. The markets that saw the fastest declines in 2020 are starting to experience the most significant jumps in 2021.