Rent growth ended 2024 with a 0.6% year-over-year uptick , according to the latest Yardi Matrix national multifamily market report.
Report highlights:
- National advertised asking rents fell $4 in December, to $1,742, with multifamily rent growth up 0.6% year-over-year.
- The decline in rents remained steeper in the upscale Lifestyle segment.
- Strong absorption volumes point to healthy demand but with significant regional variance.
- Advertised asking rents in the single-family rental market dropped $7 in December to $2,141, occupancy endured.
Rent growth positive, albeit weak; occupancy endures
The average U.S. advertised asking rent fell by another $4 in December to $1,742, which is $4 above the May 2023 figure and $4 less than in June 2023. On a year-over-year basis, multifamily rent growth remained positive, but weak, up just 0.6%. More so, national year-over-year growth stayed between 0% and 1.0% for the past 16 months. Leaders in rent growth remained New York City (5.0%), Kansas City (3.9%), New Jersey (3.8%), Chicago (3.3%) and Columbus (3.1%). The steepest declines were recorded in Austin (-5.9%). Raleigh (-3.1%), Phoenix and Atlanta (both -2.9%).
On a month-over-month basis, national advertised asking rents declined 0.2%, down in 20 of the top 30 metros. The decrease was larger in the Lifestyle segment (-0.3%), while Renter-by-Necessity rents slid 0.1%. New York ranked high in this bracket, too, with overall rents increasing 0.3%, up 0.2% in Lifestyle and 0.7% in RBN, as well as New Jersey, where overall rents rose 0.8%, up by 1.0% in Lifestyle and 0.5% in RBN. Meanwhile, high-supply markets posted the largest rent contractions, including Austin (overall rents down 1.1%, -1.2% in Lifestyle and -0.8% in RBN) and Denver (overall rents down 1.0%, -1.0% in Lifestyle and -0.9% in RBN).
The national occupancy rate stood at 94.7% in November, unchanged year-over-year including in many high-supply markets. Notable examples include Austin—occupancy fell just 0.2%, despite the metro leading in supply expansion by percentage of stock (7.5%), and Raleigh, where occupancy was flat, while deliveries amounted to 6.2% of existing stock.
Regional variance in absorption-demand dynamics
In 2024 through November, national absorption totaled 404,000 units, while deliveries amounted to 442,000 units. The 8.5% difference between the two metrics reflects healthy demand but with significant regional differences. In the Midwest, more units were absorbed than completed (65,000 units absorbed, 56,000 units completed), as well as in the Northeast (56,000 units absorbed, 53,500 units completed), which sustained rent growth, up 3.3% in the Northeast and 2.7% in the Midwest. Meanwhile, in the Southwest completions (98,000) outnumbered absorption (78,600), and rents fell 1.1%.
The difference is more pronounced on a metro level, with notable examples including Suburban Chicago (3,000 units absorbed, 900 completed, 3.9% rent growth), Central New Jersey (4,400 units absorbed, 1,600 completed, 2.5% rent growth) and Detroit (3,000 units absorbed, 1,400 completed, 3.0% rent growth). Metros at the other side of the spectrum include San Antonio (3,300 units absorbed, 8,800 completed, -1.5% rent growth), Nashville (5,900 units absorbed, 10,100 completed, -1.1% rent growth) and Austin (12,300 units absorbed, 21,000 completed, -4.9% rent growth).
SFRs posted a weak performance at the close of 2024, with advertised asking rents down $7 to 2,141 in December, and down 0.8% year-over-year. Overall occupancy remained at 95.0% in November, but Lifestyle occupancy slid 10 basis points to 94.9%. The sector’s performance was spotty across the map, outperforming multifamily in some markets, including Greenville, S.C., Salt Lake City, Denver and Nashville.
Read the full Yardi Matrix Multifamily National Market Report: December 2024.
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