Year-over-year multifamily rent growth was up by double digits in nine of 30 U.S. markets examined by Santa Barbara, California, commercial real estate data company Yardi Matrix.
Asking rents for non-leased apartments grew 6.3% from June 2020 to June 2021, the highest annual increase since Yardi Matrix began tracking the data. The national average apartment rent in June was $1,482 — a record.
This comes after sluggish apartment rental rate growth, and declines in some metros, through much of 2020. Many typical renters, such as young professionals recently out of college, opted to live with family members instead of leasing an apartment during the pandemic — because of health concerns, financial situation, remote work and other factors. Additionally, landlords weren’t pushing rents because of economic uncertainty, said Chris Nebenzahl, director at Yardi Matrix.
