Multifamily rent growth has remained steady. In April, the category grew by $5 to $1,736 across the country, a 0.9% year-over-year increase. While record levels of deliveries have put downward pressure on rents, strong job growth and fewer tenants moving into homes have helped maintain a healthy absorption rate, said Yardi Matrix in its most recent national multifamily report.
The rental market is likely to continue to benefit from climbing prices in the for-sale market, compounded by mortgage rates that have remained elevated. But economic uncertainty, including the contraction of the first quarter GDP and the potential impact of tariffs, could disrupt otherwise resilient fundamentals in the multifamily sector, according to the report.
Weaker economic growth could reduce household formation and slow multifamily demand, which could delay rent growth recovery. However, completions are expected to slow by 31% in 2026 and 43% in 2027 from a record high of 615,000 in 2024, and this should allow rent growth to return to a range of 3% to 4% between 2027 and 2030, Yardi Matrix said.
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The Northeast and Midwest recorded the highest rent growth in April, led by New York City, which logged year-over-year rent growth of 5.8%. Columbus followed with 3.7% growth, Philadelphia with 3.6% growth, Kansas City with 3.5% growth and Chicago with 3.3% growth. Negative rent growth continued to plague Sun Belt markets, including Austin, Denver, Phoenix, Dallas and Orlando, which lost between 2.1% and 5.6% in rent growth.
Occupancy fell to its lowest rate since 2013 in March at 94.4%, a function primarily of record supply continuing to hit the market post-pandemic. The category was below 93% in Austin, Houston, Atlanta and Dallas.
On a month-over-month basis, advertised rents rose 0.3% nationwide, led by Raleigh, which is making a turnaround after posting weak rent growth over the past few years due to an influx of supply. Rents increased 1% month-over-month in the city, including 1% in lifestyle and 0.5% in rental by necessity (RBN). The report noted that Raleigh’s surge may be temporary, however, as many high-supply metros have been rotating among the top and bottom performers.
The Northeast and Midwest have generally led short-term rent growth, with Raleigh, Columbus, Indianapolis, Boston and Philadelphia making up the top five markets for rent growth.
Rents declined in six of the top 30 metros on a month-over-month basis. That includes Charlotte, which was one of the top rent growth leaders in March but returned to negative territory in April. All markets posting negative rents are in Sun Belt metros, which have added more than 3% of product to their existing stock over the past year, according to Yardi Matrix.
In the single-family rental space, year-over-year rent growth was flat but rose to $2,178 in April, a gain from March. Occupancy in the SFR market was stable at 94.8%, although that was down slightly by 0.6% year-over-year. Negative year-over-year SFR rents were concentrated in the Sun Belt, with nine out of the bottom 10 metros there.
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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.
