On average, renters saw a $160/month increase in rent when renewing leases
this year and a $300/month increase
when signing a new lease, according to Realtor.com®'s
Avail Quarterly Landlord and Renter Survey
SANTA
CLARA, Calif., Aug. 24,
2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Driven by migration away from
expensive city centers during the pandemic, the rental price
advantage of living in the suburbs (vs. urban areas) has shrunk by
52.9% compared to three years ago, according to the
Realtor.com® Monthly Rental Report released today.
As the U.S. median rental price hit its latest all-time high in
July ($1,879), a new survey from
Avail (part of Realtor.com®) found that moving to
a new rental has been costlier for renters, but there may be market
cooling on the horizon as landlords adjust to renter budgets
impacted by inflation.
"Whether in a downtown area or suburb, staying put or making a
change, renters are stuck between a rock and a hard place when it
comes to affordability. Compared to three years ago when rental
price premiums were typically concentrated in urban hubs, renting
is now nearly as expensive in the suburbs, where the rise in remote
work has driven a surge in demand," said
Realtor.com® Chief Economist Danielle Hale. "At the same time, the days of
smaller premiums for downtown rentals are numbered, as a return to
in-office work and city life is sparking a relative uptick in urban
rent growth. Put simply, renters are feeling it everywhere, but
there may be some relief ahead. Survey findings suggest that
landlords are adjusting their approaches to renters' tightening
budgets, while July data shows rent growth is leveling off at a
relatively cooler pace than in 2021."
July 2022 Rental Metrics –
National
|
Unit
Size
|
Median
Rent
|
Change over July
2021
|
Change over July
2020
|
|
Overall
|
$1,879
|
12.3 %
|
23.2 %
|
|
Studio
|
$1,555
|
14.3 %
|
20.2 %
|
|
1-bed
|
$1,745
|
12.2 %
|
22.9 %
|
|
2-bed
|
$2,103
|
11.7 %
|
23.7 %
|
National rents remain historically-high, across both urban
and suburban areas
National rents reached a new high for
the 17th month in a row in July, even as rent growth further
moderated. So far this year, annual rent gains have been
consistently getting smaller month-to-month, indicating a shift
toward a more sustainable balance of rental supply and demand. On
the one hand, this offers encouraging signs of relief, with more on
the horizon as builders pick-up construction of apartments. On the
other hand, renters continued to grapple with affordability
challenges in July, driven by still-low vacancy rates that
kept rents high and inflation (8.5%) that outpaced wage
growth (+5.2%). Additionally, comparing today's rental trends
to the 2019 market highlights how renters now face higher costs in
a greater variety of areas, as renting in the suburbs no longer
offers as much of an affordability advantage over big cities as it
once did. While the rise in remote work and migration away from
downtown areas gave suburban rents room to catch-up to urban
rents earlier in the pandemic, the return to downtown life and
offices is now driving an especially strong resurgence in big city
rents.
- In July, the U.S. median rental price hit its latest new high
($1,879), but only increased by
$3 over June as rent growth
year-over-year (+12.3%) continued moderating to its slowest pace
since August 2021 (+11.5%).
- Overall rents posted low double-digit gains over July 2021 levels across all unit sizes in July:
Studios, up 14.3% to $1,555;
one-bedrooms, up 12.2% to $1,745; and
two-bedrooms, up 11.7% to $2,103.
- Among the 50 largest metros in July, rental prices grew most
quickly year-over-year in the south and northeast, led by
Miami for the 10th straight month
(+26.2%). Rounding out July's five fastest-growing rental markets
were New York (+25.4%),
Boston (+24.8%), Chicago (+20.6%) and Orlando, Fla. (+20.4%).
- In four out of these five markets, urban rents grew at a faster
yearly pace than suburban rents, most significantly in New York (+25.4 percentage points) and
followed by Chicago (+15.7),
Boston (+11.6) and Miami (+6.2); the growth rates were roughly
even in Orlando (+19.5% vs.
+20.3%).
- Nationally, July rent growth year-over-year was slightly faster
in urban areas, up 12.8% to a median $1,927.5, than in suburban areas, up 11.7% to a
median $1,821. This is a marked
reversal from earlier in the pandemic in January 2021, when urban rent was falling by 2.5%
while suburban rent was growing by 3.9%. Despite the recent
resurgence in big city rents, shifts during COVID significantly
shrank the gap between urban and suburban rents from July 2019-2022
– by 52.9% or $68 per month.
Avail survey finds renters still face rent hikes, but
landlords may be relenting
Findings from the latest
Avail1 Quarterly Landlord and Renter
Survey underscore that rental affordability challenges are
everywhere. Whether renewing an existing lease or moving to a new
unit, the majority of surveyed renters experienced a rent hike over
the past year, with new rentals proving costlier. At the same time,
plans reported by landlords suggest that an end to the relentless
rent surge may be in sight. Although the majority do expect to
increase rents on at least one property, quarter-over-quarter
trends indicate landlords are recognizing that renters are reaching
their financial limits and beginning to adjust their business
approaches accordingly.
- Among renters surveyed in July who have been in their current
unit for 1-2 years, 52.4% have experienced a rent increase, by a
median $160 per month (+13%). Of
these renters, 77.1% are considering a move to a more affordable
rental.
- However, whether in the rental or for-sale market, those
looking for lower housing costs may not find much luck. Renters who
moved within the past year reported 27% higher rents (+$300) than
in their prior residence. Of renters planning to purchase a home,
72.7% are considering putting plans on pause in light of higher
costs.
- More than half (60%) of renters reported that higher rents and
household expenses are their biggest cause of financial strain,
down from the April rate (66.1%). Additionally, a typical renter
reported being able to put twice as much of their monthly take-home
toward savings in July ($100)
compared to April ($50).
- Findings from July's survey of landlords offer further
potential signs that the worst of rental cost pressures may be
behind renters. Although 72.1% of landlords reported plans to raise
rents within the next year, the rate held steady over the previous
quarter after jumping substantially from January (65.1%) to April
(72.1%).
- When asked why they plan on raising rents, landlords cited
higher costs for property management expenses, including tax
payments (79.1%), maintenance and upkeep (75%) and utilities
(45.9%). In the face of these cost pressures, the share of
landlords who plan to buy new properties declined significantly in
July (23.4%) from January (37.5%).
"Like renters, landlords are feeling financial pains from the
inflationary economy. To help offset these higher costs while
maintaining local ownership of rentals, our survey suggests that
many landlords are making the difficult decision to raise rents.
We're also beginning to see that landlords are less interested in
growing their portfolios as they were in the past surveys," said
Ryan Coon, Avail co-founder and VP
of Rentals at Realtor.com®. "It's important to remember
that affordability remains a challenge for many renters. Those who
are looking for support can access resources like free financial
counseling through Avail's integration with the NFCC Renter
Advantage program."
July 2022 Rental Metrics – 50
Largest U.S. Metro Areas
|
Metro
|
Overall
Median
Rent
|
Overall
Rent YY
|
Studio
Median
Rent
|
Studio
Rent YY
|
1-br
Median
Rent
|
1-br
Rent YY
|
2-br
Median
Rent
|
2-br
Rent YY
|
|
Atlanta-Sandy
Springs-Roswell, Ga.
|
$1,859
|
7.5 %
|
$1,739
|
13.7 %
|
$1,726
|
7.9 %
|
$2,063
|
4.5 %
|
|
Austin-Round Rock,
Texas
|
$1,853
|
14.6 %
|
$1,555
|
17.8 %
|
$1,719
|
17.9 %
|
$2,053
|
13.0 %
|
|
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, Md.
|
$1,821
|
8.7 %
|
$1,451
|
5.8 %
|
$1,731
|
8.9 %
|
$1,935
|
9.3 %
|
|
Birmingham-Hoover,
Ala.
|
$1,295
|
12.1 %
|
$989
|
-10.1 %
|
$1,241
|
15.7 %
|
$1,348
|
10.0 %
|
|
Boston-Cambridge-Newton, Mass.-N.H.
|
$2,995
|
24.8 %
|
$2,591
|
31.2 %
|
$2,782
|
21.0 %
|
$3,325
|
27.9 %
|
|
Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Niagara Falls, N.Y.
|
$1,340
|
6.3 %
|
$1,125
|
2.7 %
|
$1,230
|
10.8 %
|
$1,480
|
5.3 %
|
|
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, N.C.-S.C.
|
$1,755
|
14.9 %
|
$1,631
|
19.0 %
|
$1,669
|
16.4 %
|
$1,855
|
8.8 %
|
|
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, Ill.-Ind.-Wisc.
|
$2,045
|
20.6 %
|
$1,750
|
46.4 %
|
$2,000
|
22.3 %
|
$2,249
|
18.4 %
|
|
Cincinnati,
Ohio-Ky.-Ind.
|
$1,513
|
10.8 %
|
$1,205
|
10.0 %
|
$1,450
|
11.4 %
|
$1,660
|
5.7 %
|
|
Cleveland-Elyria,
Ohio
|
$1,430
|
13.9 %
|
$1,000
|
14.3 %
|
$1,319
|
9.9 %
|
$1,555
|
12.7 %
|
|
Columbus,
Ohio
|
$1,312
|
9.3 %
|
$1,095
|
9.6 %
|
$1,231
|
8.6 %
|
$1,409
|
8.4 %
|
|
Dallas-Fort
Worth-Arlington, Texas
|
$1,703
|
14.7 %
|
$1,445
|
15.6 %
|
$1,566
|
16.8 %
|
$2,008
|
13.7 %
|
|
Denver-Aurora-Lakewood,
Colo.
|
$2,005
|
6.6 %
|
$1,669
|
6.6 %
|
$1,880
|
6.7 %
|
$2,370
|
7.7 %
|
|
Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, Mich.
|
$1,455
|
8.4 %
|
$1,210
|
20.4 %
|
$1,255
|
11.1 %
|
$1,600
|
6.7 %
|
|
Hartford-West
Hartford-East Hartford, Conn.
|
$1,770
|
13.8 %
|
$1,540
|
28.4 %
|
$1,615
|
9.9 %
|
$2,039
|
13.3 %
|
|
Houston-The
Woodlands-Sugar Land, Texas
|
$1,450
|
8.2 %
|
$1,335
|
2.2 %
|
$1,335
|
8.4 %
|
$1,625
|
6.6 %
|
|
Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, Ind.
|
$1,325
|
11.4 %
|
$1,081
|
12.1 %
|
$1,235
|
13.8 %
|
$1,464
|
9.7 %
|
|
Jacksonville,
Fla.
|
$1,623
|
11.9 %
|
$1,199
|
23.0 %
|
$1,506
|
10.0 %
|
$1,770
|
12.1 %
|
|
Kansas City,
Mo.-Kan.
|
$1,360
|
11.9 %
|
$1,030
|
3.0 %
|
$1,270
|
14.9 %
|
$1,570
|
13.9 %
|
|
Las
Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, Nev.
|
$1,631
|
8.7 %
|
$1,250
|
13.6 %
|
$1,500
|
8.3 %
|
$1,735
|
7.3 %
|
|
Los Angeles-Long
Beach-Anaheim, Calif.
|
$3,047
|
12.6 %
|
$2,325
|
16.3 %
|
$2,785
|
12.7 %
|
$3,512
|
11.2 %
|
|
Louisville/Jefferson
County, Ky.-Ind.
|
$1,250
|
13.1 %
|
$1,095
|
20.3 %
|
$1,165
|
9.4 %
|
$1,429
|
13.0 %
|
|
Memphis,
Tenn.-Miss.-Ark.
|
$1,409
|
8.5 %
|
$1,149
|
4.5 %
|
$1,369
|
9.6 %
|
$1,549
|
8.8 %
|
|
Miami-Fort
Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, Fla.
|
$2,840
|
26.2 %
|
$2,479
|
33.0 %
|
$2,500
|
25.0 %
|
$3,200
|
28.0 %
|
|
Milwaukee-Waukesha-West
Allis, Wisc.
|
$1,588
|
9.5 %
|
$1,245
|
8.3 %
|
$1,490
|
10.4 %
|
$1,814
|
8.6 %
|
|
Minneapolis-St.
Paul-Bloomington, Minn.-Wisc.
|
$1,600
|
3.3 %
|
$1,249
|
2.1 %
|
$1,506
|
3.2 %
|
$1,934
|
0.5 %
|
|
Nashville-Davidson–Murfreesboro–Franklin,
Tenn.
|
$1,777
|
14.6 %
|
$1,650
|
1.2 %
|
$1,673
|
14.6 %
|
$1,915
|
18.0 %
|
|
New Orleans-Metairie,
La.
|
N/A*
|
|
New York-Newark-Jersey
City, N.Y.-N.J.-Penn.
|
$3,010
|
25.4 %
|
$2,750
|
31.0 %
|
$2,710
|
23.2 %
|
$3,400
|
25.0 %
|
|
Oklahoma City,
Okla.
|
$1,050
|
11.8 %
|
$964
|
30.3 %
|
$945
|
9.2 %
|
$1,189
|
17.8 %
|
|
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, Fla.
|
$1,981
|
20.4 %
|
$1,746
|
18.3 %
|
$1,817
|
20.7 %
|
$2,248
|
19.1 %
|
|
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington,
Penn.-N.J.-Del.-M.D.
|
$1,835
|
8.3 %
|
$1,550
|
11.9 %
|
$1,770
|
8.9 %
|
$2,000
|
5.3 %
|
|
Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz.
|
$1,755
|
4.8 %
|
$1,415
|
8.3 %
|
$1,609
|
4.8 %
|
$1,925
|
2.6 %
|
|
Pittsburgh,
Penn.
|
$1,600
|
11.4 %
|
$1,315
|
7.8 %
|
$1,625
|
14.0 %
|
$1,750
|
7.7 %
|
|
Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, Ore.-Wash.
|
$1,861
|
9.6 %
|
$1,490
|
5.5 %
|
$1,799
|
8.4 %
|
$2,192
|
9.6 %
|
|
Providence-Warwick,
R.I.-Mass.
|
N/A*
|
|
Raleigh,
N.C.
|
$1,694
|
13.3 %
|
$1,562
|
15.8 %
|
$1,575
|
15.0 %
|
$1,893
|
11.2 %
|
|
Richmond,
Va.
|
$1,453
|
11.4 %
|
$1,200
|
11.6 %
|
$1,326
|
11.7 %
|
$1,575
|
11.5 %
|
|
Riverside-San
Bernardino-Ontario, Calif.
|
$2,600
|
4.2 %
|
$1,800
|
25.1 %
|
$2,239
|
6.5 %
|
$2,820
|
3.4 %
|
|
Rochester,
N.Y.
|
$1,360
|
8.4 %
|
$995
|
12.4 %
|
$1,295
|
11.6 %
|
$1,465
|
10.6 %
|
|
Sacramento–Roseville–Arden-Arcade, Calif.
|
$2,083
|
3.4 %
|
$1,735
|
-6.2 %
|
$1,950
|
0.9 %
|
$2,273
|
3.8 %
|
|
San Antonio-New
Braunfels, Texas
|
$1,418
|
13.4 %
|
$1,290
|
10.8 %
|
$1,304
|
15.7 %
|
$1,619
|
12.0 %
|
|
San Diego-Carlsbad,
Calif.
|
$3,195
|
16.2 %
|
$2,472
|
14.9 %
|
$2,955
|
17.0 %
|
$3,566
|
14.8 %
|
|
San
Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, Calif.
|
$3,200
|
11.9 %
|
$2,560
|
13.8 %
|
$2,952
|
11.4 %
|
$3,704
|
11.4 %
|
|
San
Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif.
|
$3,350
|
16.2 %
|
$2,655
|
14.9 %
|
$3,100
|
14.8 %
|
$3,750
|
15.9 %
|
|
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Wash.
|
$2,310
|
11.9 %
|
$1,915
|
14.9 %
|
$2,293
|
9.6 %
|
$2,704
|
10.8 %
|
|
St. Louis,
Mo.-Ill.
|
$1,395
|
9.0 %
|
$1,020
|
6.3 %
|
$1,300
|
6.8 %
|
$1,497
|
6.9 %
|
|
Tampa-St.
Petersburg-Clearwater, Fla.
|
$2,102
|
9.3 %
|
$2,025
|
19.2 %
|
$1,880
|
8.0 %
|
$2,300
|
6.8 %
|
|
Virginia
Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, Va.-N.C.
|
$1,585
|
7.2 %
|
$1,400
|
11.1 %
|
$1,483
|
7.2 %
|
$1,744
|
7.1 %
|
|
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-Va.-Md.-W.
Va.
|
$2,208
|
10.4 %
|
$1,774
|
8.8 %
|
$2,090
|
10.0 %
|
$2,581
|
8.0 %
|
*New Orleans and Providence, R.I. excluded while rental data is
under review.
Methodology
Rental data as of July 2022 for units advertised as for-rent on
Realtor.com®. Rental units include apartment communities
as well as private rentals (condos, townhomes, single-family
homes). All units were studio, 1-bedroom, or 2-bedroom units.
National rents were calculated by averaging the medians of the 50
largest U.S. metropolitan areas, defined by the Core-Based
Statistical Area (CBSA). Realtor.com® began publishing
regular monthly rental trends reports in October 2020 with data history going back to
March 2019.
Urban vs. Suburban Analysis: Suburban and Urban distinctions
were made by classifying zip codes within each metro by percentiles
of population density within the metro. Rental listings are
assigned a classification based on their zip code and then
aggregated by classification and metropolitan area for
analysis.
Avail Quarterly Landlord and Renter Survey: Survey responses
collected from a nationally representative sample of more than
2,600 renters and independent landlords. The survey was conducted
between July 21st, 2022, and
July 29th, 2022. The margin of error
for landlords is ± 2.7%, and ± 2.6% for renters. Avail, which has
been a part of Realtor.com® since December 2020, is a platform that improves the
renting experience for do-it-yourself landlords and tenants with
online tools, educational content and world-class
support.
About Realtor.com®
Realtor.com®
makes buying, selling, renting and living in homes easier and more
rewarding for everyone. Realtor.com® pioneered the world
of digital real estate more than 25 years ago, and today through
its website and mobile apps offers a marketplace where people can
learn about their options, trust in the transparency of information
provided to them, and get services and resources that are
personalized to their needs. Using proprietary data science and
machine learning technology, Realtor.com® pairs buyers
and sellers with local agents in their market, helping take the
guesswork out of buying and selling a home. For professionals,
Realtor.com® is a trusted provider of consumer
connections and branding solutions that help them succeed in
today's on-demand world. Realtor.com® is operated by
News Corp [Nasdaq: NWS, NWSA] [ASX: NWS, NWSLV] subsidiary Move,
Inc. For more information, visit Realtor.com®.
Media Contact
rachel.conner@move.com
1 Part of Realtor.com®
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