Rents Trend Down

Reports Yardi Matrix

By Yardi Blog Staff on Dec 15, 2023 in Matrix

National multifamily asking rent decreased for the third consecutive month in November, according to the latest Yardi Matrix National Multifamily Report.

The average U.S. asking rent fell $6 to $1,713 in November, with year-over-year growth at 0.4 percent, on par with September. Occupancy remained steady at 94.9 percent since August.

Metros in the Northeast and Midwest remained in the lead for rent growth, while Sunbelt and West metros lagged. More so, seven of Yardi Matrix’s top 30 markets were down 3.0 percent or more year-over-year, with the most significant rent declines registered in Sunbelt metros where developers delivered new supply in volume. 

“One could say the multifamily market is metaphorically hunkering down for the winter as property owners face the prospect of weak near-term rent growth due to inflation, the loosening job market and a surge in deliveries in some markets, while values and capital markets liquidity deteriorate as interest rates remain higher-for-longer,” states the report.

Although rent growth was restrained in the middle of the last quarter of 2023, it posted a 23.5 percent increase since the start of the pandemic in March 2020. The current slowdown resulted from stock expansion in some areas and stretched affordability in other areas. Planned deliveries over the next two years will likely create some balance.

Rents contracted across asset classes, steeper in the Lifestyle segment (down 0.4 percent) than in the Renter-by-Necessity segment (down 0.2 percent). Overall, monthly rent growth was negative in 25 of Yardi Matrix’s top 30 metros.

Single-family rents fell $8 in November to $2,115, for a 0.7 percent year-over-year increase, down 30 basis points from October. Rent growth was solely sustained by the RBN segment, up 3.2 percent year-over-year, while Lifestyle rents declined 0.1 percent during the interval.

Gain more insight in the new Yardi Matrix National Multifamily Report.

Yardi Matrix offers the industry’s most comprehensive market intelligence tool for investment professionals, equity investors, lenders and property managers who underwrite and manage investments in commercial real estate. Yardi Matrix covers multifamily, student housing, vacant land, industrial, office, retail and self storage property types. Email [email protected], call 480-663-1149 or visit yardimatrix.com to learn more.