Rents for single-family homes have increased by a staggering 39.6% since the COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020. Recently, the rate of increase has varied across metro areas.
At the national level, rent increases are accelerating again. JiroAccording to the CDC’s monthly rental report, U.S. single-family home rents rose 4.7% year over year in June, 0.4% higher than in May. Additionally, rents increased on an annualized basis in 49 of the 50 largest metro areas. Previously red-hot Austin was the only metro area where rents fell year over year, but the decline was only 0.6%.
The average monthly rent for a single-family home in June was $2,288. Cleveland had the highest year-over-year increase in single-family rent at 8.9%, followed by Milwaukee (7.7%), Cincinnati (7.6%), Louisville, Kentucky (7.5%) and St. Louis (7.2%). Four major metros saw month-over-month rent declines: Buffalo, NY (-1.6%), Austin (-0.1%), Hartford, CT (-0.1%) and New Orleans (-0.03%).
“The rental market booms during the summer as more people move,” Zillow chief economist Skylar Olsen said in the report. “Renters are gravitating to more affordable areas in the Northeast and Midwest. Commuting to New York City or Boston from places like Hartford or Providence may have been a deterrent before, but in this new era of remote and hybrid work, the savings seem worth it for many renters, even if it means a sometimes-arduous commute.”
Multifamily rent growth is slowing. It’s up 26.7% since the pandemic began and 2.7% from a year ago. Multifamily rents rose year-over-year in June in 40 of the 50 largest cities.
Hartford, Connecticut, saw rent increases across all property types rise 8.4% year over year, despite month-over-month declines in single-family home rents. Buffalo followed suit, with single-family home rents falling month-over-month, but multifamily rents up 5.7% year over year, the fifth-highest increase across the market.
Providence, Rhode Island (6.7%), Louisville, Kentucky (6.4%) and Cleveland, Kentucky (6.3%) also ranked in the top five for annual apartment rent increases.
