Despite strong momentum in new lease trade-outs during the first quarter, the overall U.S. apartment market has yet to reach positive territory.
The month-over-month change in new lease trade-out ranked about 1.4% consistently in January, February and March. The trend was the strongest in the past three years for the first quarter, which is historically strong for the U.S. apartment market, according to a RealPage analysis.
The trade-out rate for new leases in March was right at 0%, which means new deals signed during the month had executed rents roughly equal to what the prior tenant was paying for the same unit, according to the report. As recently as November, trade-outs were going for 4% less than the previous tenant, which represents a significant decline and makes the recent turnaround impressive, said RealPage.
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Pricing also improved during the first quarter, with rents up by 34 basis points over the fourth quarter 2024 prices. By comparison, during the same period last year, rents declined. That change remains below the average performance for much of the 2010s, when rents accelerated around 60 bps. However, RealPage noted the recent uptick is a demonstration of overall strength in the market.
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Kristen Smithberg
Kristen Smithberg is a Colorado-based freelance writer who covers commercial real estate, insurance, benefits and retirement topics for BenefitsPRO and other industry publications.
