Apartment Rents on the Rise in Most Markets
Some markets have fully recovered from pandemic dips and will see rent gains north of 5.0 percent by the end of the year.
Apartment rents are rising quickly in many cities and towns across the U.S.—faster than most economists were anticipating.
“Pricing in most spots—really all but the gateway metros—is at all-time highs,” says Greg Willett, chief economist for RealPage, headquartered in Richardson, Texas. “Apartment rents by and large are moving up substantially, more than many expected coming into 2021.”
The rents offered for new leases reached a new high in April 2021, averaging $1,430 a month across the U.S., according to Yardi Matrix. That’s up 2.0 percent from the $1,401 offered in April 2020, when the U.S. economy was largely shut down to slow the spread of the coronavirus. It’s also higher tpeak of $1,405 reached in March 2020, just before the pandemic began. Average apartment rents offered for new leases sagged to a low of $1,398 in May 2020—a discount of just a few dollars.