Monthly apartment rents across the country remain high. But it appears that these rents might be rising at a slower clip throughout 2017.
Yardi Matrix recently released its February rent survey, finding that the average U.S. monthly apartment rent held steady during the month at $1,306. That figure is unchanged from the previous month, according to the survey of 124 markets by Yardi Matrix.
While year-over-year rents in some metropolitan areas — such as Sacramento and the Inland Empire in California — rose during February, most of the largest U.S. metropolitan areas are reverting to flat or modest growth.
Yardi Matrix researchers don’t consider this a sign of long-term weakness in the multifamily sector. That’s because household formation and occupancy rates are expected to remain strong throughout the rest of 2017.
The days of soaring rent increases each month, though, might be over for now.
Monthly rents across the United States were up 2.8 percent this February when compared to the same month one year earlier. Yardi Matrix reports that apartment rents in February were the same as they were in July of 2016.
Yardi Matrix researchers do expect several Midwest markets to see modest multifamily rent growth in 2017. Nashville should see apartment rents rise by 4.5 percent this year, according to the survey, while apartment rents in Minneapolis/St. Paul shoudl increase by 4.2 percent. In Chicago, Yardi predicts that rents will increase 3.3 percent throughout the year, while they should increase by 3.1 percent in Kansas City.
