A recent Q&A at The New York Times asked if now was a good time to rent a new apartment? The answer depends on where you are and what you are looking to spend.
U.S. single-family rent growth strengthened in December 2020, increasing 3.8% year over year according to the CoreLogic Single-Family Rent Index (CoreLogic)
- This is an increase from the low of 1.4% reported for June 2020
- This is also up from the 2.9% rate recorded for December 2019
The uneven recovery is highlighted in the rent growth across the tiers
- HIGH PRICE: Increased 4.3% in December 2020. This is up big from the gain of 2.4% in December 2019.
- LOW PRICE: Increased 3.3% in December 2020. This is actually down from 3.5% in December 2019.
Contrary to popular belief, not all big cities saw a decline in rents. Rental prices varied widely depending on your location.
- The metro areas that saw the biggest increases were Phoenix, AZ (10.7%), Tucson, AZ (9.5%), and Charlotte, NC (7.1%)
- The metro areas that actually saw declines were Boston (-7.2%), Chicago (-.9%), and Honolulu (-0.1%).
One of the concerns for economists during this pandemic has been rising home values while rents have fallen. One of the biggest indicators of a housing bubble was that rent prices did not reflect home values. Rising rents may not be a welcome sight for renters, but they should deflate concerns many had about a housing bubble.