Article says metro areas, not necessarily cities properApartment rents fell in every major metropolitan area in the U.S. over the past six months through January, a trend that
is poised to continue as the biggest delivery of new apartments in nearly four decades is slated for this year.
Renters with new leases in January paid a median rent that was 3.5% lower than they would have paid last August, according to estimates from listing website Apartment List. It was the first time in five years that rent fell every month over a six-month period, according to the same estimates.
Four other market measures by housing-data companies also show that new-lease rents either fell or remained flat in January compared with the previous month, extending a streak of monthly rent declines that began at the end of the summer.
The coming increase in new apartments is most likely to affect rents at higher-end buildings, because there might not be enough people who make enough money to rent them, according to CoStar.
“The potential demand for newly developed [high-end] properties remains dependent on an expanding pool of high income renter households only,” CoStar said.
Amid rising concerns of a recession, many housing economists don’t think job and wage growth will be strong enough to sustain much in the way of rent increases this year. Both Yardi and Moody’s expect rents to rise about 3% nationally during the next 12 months, less than half the rate seen in 2022.
“When you look at real wages, you saw that they were pretty darn stagnant for the last year or two years,” Mr. LaSalvia said.
obligatory daily anti-NIMBY plug
