Rent growth fell below the pre-pandemic average in September, according to the latest data from CoreLogic
- Y-O-Y: Single-family rent growth in September slowed to 2.6% when compared to the same time last year, down from 2.9% in August and the lowest level level in three years.
- M-O-M: Single-family rent growth actually fell 0.2% from August, while this is the first time this happened since the pandemic but is in line with seasonal trends recorded over the 15 years before the pandemic.
Third Times The Charm. For the third straight month, St. Louis posted the highest year-over-year increase in single-family rents in August 2023, at 7%. Chicago took the number two spot with 5.7% growth followed by Boston and San Diego (both 5.6%).
- On the flip side, Austin, Texas was the worst (-0.9%), Las Vegas (-0.8%) and Miami (-0.5%) again saw slight year-over-year rental cost decreases.
Analysis. Molly Boesel, principal economist for CoreLogic, noted that rent growth slowing, and in some cases falling, is of little relief to renter. “Single-family rents grew by 30% since February 2020, and small drops in some areas barely put a dent in the overall, cumulative increase. For example, even though rents in the Miami metro area have declined by 0.5% since August 2022, they are still 51% higher than they were before the pandemic began.”