Economic rebound leads to record increase in multifamily asking rents

Multifamily asking rents jumped an average of 6.3% year-over-year in June, the largest leap ever recorded by Yardi Matrix, a leading industry data tracker. The national average apartment rent increased $23 last month to $1,482, another record, and single-family home rents were up 11% year-over-year.

“These are the largest year-over-year and monthly increases in the history of our data set,” said Jeff Adler, vice president of Yardi Matrix. Analysts point to increased household savings and government stimulus funding as factors that have kept the multifamily industry stable during the pandemic period, and now able to rebound as the economy improves.

The newly released data is an economic indicator of post-pandemic recovery across the U.S. The largest increases were documented in the lifestyle apartment sector. Renters are also now returning to many gateway markets that saw outbound migration for most of the last year. A supercharged housing market is also pricing out some potential buyers, leading residents to remain in apartments.

“Rent growth will not be able to continue at these levels indefinitely, but conditions for above-average growth are likely to persist for months,” Adler said. The increases reflect growth in what landlords are asking for unleased apartments. Renters renewing leases may also be seeing increased rents, but at lower levels.

Migration is pushing up rents in Southwest and Southeast metros like Phoenix (17.0%), Tampa and California’s Inland Empire (both 15.1%), Las Vegas (14.6%) and Atlanta (13.3%). These metros were lower cost compared to larger gateway metros.

Some takeaways from the Yardi Matrix report: 

• Multifamily asking rents increased by 6.3% on a year-over-year basis in June, the largest YoY increase in the history of our data set. Out of our top 30 markets, 27 had positive YoY rent growth.
• Rents grew an astonishing $23 in June to $1,482—another record-breaking increase. Lifestyle rents are growing at a faster pace than Renter-by-Necessity rents, something we have not seen since 2011 and another sign of a hot market.
• Phoenix (17.0%), Tampa and the Inland Empire (both 15.1%) topped the list with unprecedented year-over-year rent growth. Nine of the top 30 markets had double-digit YoY rent growth in June, driven by strong migration to these metros.
• Year-over-year Lifestyle rents (7.2%) grew faster than Renter-by-Necessity rents (5.8%) in June for the first time since 2011. Renters have benefited from increased government support, strong wage growth and increased 
• Single-family (Built-to-Rent) rents grew even faster, at an 11% year-over-year pace
• Rents increased nationally by 1.6% in June on a month-over-month basis. For the third month in a row, all 30 metros had positive month-over-month rent growth. 
• Tampa, Phoenix (both 2.5%), Austin (2.4%), and Miami (2.3%) had the strongest MoM gains.

Download the Matrix Multifamily National Report-June 2021