Yardi Matrix reported that the national average asking apartment rent was down $5 in November compared to the revised level of the month before at $1,744 per month. The national average year-over-year asking apartment rent growth was +0.9 percent in November, unchanged from the rate reported last month. The month-over-month rent growth rate was -0.3 percent.
Rents in the “lifestyle” asset class, usually Class A properties, were unchanged year-over-year, while rents in “renter by necessity” (RBN) properties increased by 1.9 percent year-over-year. The lifestyle rent growth is up 0.1 percentage point from last month’s rate while the RBN rent growth is down 0.1 percentage point from last month’s rate. The chart, below, shows the history of the year-over-year rent growth rates for these two asset classes along with the difference between these rates.
Rents in the lifestyle class have been unchanged, or nearly so, year-over-year for the last 4 months. Year-over-year rent growth for RBN properties has been steady for an even longer period, hovering around 2 percent since October of last year. By contrast, in the 2018 through 2019 period, year-over-year rent growth for lifestyle properties averaged 2.5 percent while that for RBN properties averaged 3.5 percent
Yardi Matrix reported that the U.S. average occupancy rate in October was unchanged from that of the month before at 94.7 percent. The occupancy rate was reported to be unchanged year-over-year.
Expenses again
Yardi Matrix reported that the rate of expense growth, which has been elevated recently, has been coming down. Their figures indicate that expenses have growth 4.0 percent year-to-date for market rate properties, down from 9.0 percent last year. Despite rising expenses and low growth in advertised rents, Yardi Matrix found that net operating income has been growing. A key factor in this growth is the rent growth rate for renewed leases which, at 3.5 percent, greatly exceeds the growth in advertised rents.
Yardi Matrix expects that expense growth will continue to moderate including expense growth for insurance. However, with rent growth under pressure due to high levels of new supply coming on line, controlling expenses will be the key to profitability over the next year.
Tabulating the data
Yardi Matrix reports on other key rental market metrics in addition to rent growth. These include the year-over-year job growth rate based on the 6 month moving average and the completions over the prior 12 months as a percentage of existing stock. The 10 metros with the largest annual apartment rent increases are listed in the table below, along with the other data.
| City | YoY rent | YoY rent last month |
YoY jobs (6 mo moving avg) |
Completions as % of stock |
| New York | 5.0 | 5.3 | 1.7 | 1.5 |
| Kansas City | 3.4 | 3.7 | 1.5 | 2.4 |
| Detroit | 3.2 | 3.7 | 0.3 | 0.8 |
| Washington DC | 2.8 | 3.2 | 0.6 | 1.9 |
| Chicago | 2.7 | 2.9 | 0.1 | 1.3 |
| Indianapolis | 2.7 | 3.0 | 2.3 | 2.7 |
| New Jersey | 2.5 | 2.9 | 1.7 | 2.6 |
| Baltimore | 2.4 | 2.1 | 0.0 | 1.3 |
| Columbus | 2.3 | 3.1 | 0.5 | 3.5 |
| Boston | 2.1 | 2.8 | 0.8 | 2.9 |
The major metros with the smallest year-over-year apartment rent growth as determined by Yardi Matrix are listed in the next table, below, along with the other data as in the table above.
| City | YoY rent | YoY rent last month |
YoY jobs (6 mo moving avg) |
Completions as % of stock |
| Austin | (5.6) | (5.5) | 1.7 | 7.5 |
| Raleigh | (2.7) | (3.1) | 2.4 | 6.4 |
| Atlanta | (2.6) | (2.3) | 1.3 | 3.5 |
| Phoenix | (2.2) | (2.4) | 2.2 | 4.5 |
| Orlando | (2.1) | (2.2) | 1.5 | 5.1 |
| Dallas | (2.0) | (1.5) | 1.6 | 3.3 |
| Charlotte | (1.9) | (1.9) | 1.8 | 5.7 |
| Denver | (1.7) | (1.0) | 0.2 | 5.5 |
| Nashville | (1.7) | (1.5) | 0.6 | 5.9 |
| Tampa | (0.7) | (2.0) | 1.7 | 4.2 |
The top metros for month-over month rent growth in November were Tampa, Miami, New York and Baltimore. Only New York was in the top 4 in last month’s report. The trailing metros this month were Denver, Portland, Austin and Columbus. Both Denver and Austin were in the bottom 4 in last month’s report.
Single-family rentals rents continue to fall
Yardi Matrix also reported that single-family rental (SFR) rents fell $7 in November from the revised level of the month before to $2,150 per month. The year-over-year SFR rent growth rate remained at 0.3 percent.
Yardi Matrix reported on the top 34 markets for built-to-rent single-family rentals, 17 of which saw rents grow year-over-year in November. The leading markets for year-over-year rent growth were Kansas City, Raleigh, Grand Rapids and Greenville.
The markets with the lowest year-over-year rent growth were Miami, Jacksonville, Pensacola and Dallas.
The national occupancy rate for single-family rentals remained unchanged in October at 95.1 percent.
This month, 12 of the metros saw year-over-year occupancy increases. The metros with the largest year-over-year occupancy increases were Pensacola, Nashville, Salt Lake City and Atlanta, the same list as last month. The metros with the greatest occupancy declines were Jacksonville, Indianapolis, Greenville and Dallas, also the same as last month.
The complete Yardi Matrix report provides information on some of the smaller multifamily housing markets and more information on the differences in results between lifestyle and RBN properties. It can be found here.
