Rental Crisis Appears to be Ending: 50 of the Nation’s Largest 100 Rental Markets are Now Trading at a Discount

Ken Johnson, Ph.D.
Christie Kirkland Walker Chair of Real Estate
The University of Mississippi
School of Business Administration

Click here to view the Waller, Weeks and Johnson Rental Index.

Highlights and Quotes

The rental crisis appears to be ending. Currently in 50 of the nation’s largest 100 metropolitan rental markets, the average rental unit is leasing at a discount.

The surge in multifamily unit construction appears to be the game changer here. In many areas of the country, rental concessions are once again occurring. This is always a good sign for tenants and a sign that renters are beginning to get the upper hand in rental negotiations.

In addition to concessions, rents are actually down month-over-month for April in ten markets with North Port, FL (-.68%), Rochester, NY (-.32%), Poughkeepsie, NY (-.31%), McAllen, TX (-.31%), and Akron, OH (-.30%) leading the way.

Some rental markets (Winston, NC; Augusta, GA; Springfield, MA; Chicago, IL; Provo, UT; Spokane, WA; Buffalo, NY; and Tulsa, OK) remain scorching hot with month-over-month rent increases of greater than one percent. This puts these markets on pace for double digit year-over-year rent increases. Rents in all eight of these metros, with the exception of Chicago, are below the national average monthly rent of $2,024. These lower rents (providing lower returns) could be the reason these areas have not attracted heavy attention from multifamily developers, resulting in a continuing supply crunch.

The U.S. has made good progress, in terms of dealing with the ongoing rental crisis; however, we still need to continue building in many areas around the country especially in those 50 metros that are leasing at a premium.

Index Information

• Updated monthly – typically between the 15th and the end of month.
• All columns of data are interactive and can be ranked by viewers from largest to smallest or smallest to largest.
• Tracks rents (RENT – average rent for average rental unit) and other rental statistics in 100 of the nation’s largest rental markets.
• Other Rental Statistics:
  • Provides statistical estimates of rents (Est Rent) for each market based on a history of that market’s rental data.
  • Provides estimates if a market is trading/leasing at a Premium or a Discount (+/-) relative to its statistically estimated rents for that market.
  • Provides month-over-month (1MOM) rent change for a market.
  • Provides three-month (3MOM) rent change for a market. Provides nine-month (9MOM) rent change for a market.
  • Provides 12-month (Y-O-Y) rent change for a market.
  • Provides an Affordability measure. The number shown is the annual income needed such that renting does not stress the household’s budget.