After taking a nosedive last year, apartment rents in major tech cities appear to have bottomed out and are now on an upward trajectory, according to a CBRE report.
The rise in remote work policies due to the coronavirus pandemic that enabled people to exit the urban cores of major metros around the country impacted San Francisco the most, severely causing the biggest rental rate drop last year. However, the now lower rents are expected to lure renters back to the historically pricey city.
The report tracked 20 markets that all experienced rental rate losses in 2020 averaging a decline by 11.6% between February 2020 and March 2021. However, the data point shows a modest improvement since January 2021 as the year began with the average rent down by 13.2% compared to February 2020.