Although national average rent was up slightly for the month of April, up 2% YoY, it was the smallest growth seen since April 2011, when rates increased 1.5 percent.
According to the most recent Yardi Matrix Report, rental growth is slowing. One of the worst cities with the slowest rental growth rate was Houston with a -2.5% YoY rent growth. The highest YoY rent growth was Sacramento with an 8.5% growth rate.
“Although occupancy rates are stable nationally, new supply is having an impact in markets such as Denver (-1.5% year-over-year), Charlotte and Austin (both -1.2%).”
“We expect upwards of 363,000 units to come online in 2017, with the number of deliveries declining in 2018 and 2019,” the report predicts. The continued increase in supply and income not keeping up with the historical high rental rates, may lead to even lower occupancy nationally.
