Apartment Landlords Raising Rents as Supply of Apartments Tightens Up

Apartment landlords raised rents by an average of 0.8% to $1,083 in the quarter according to a newly released report from Reis, Inc.

Meanwhile the vacancy rate fell to 4.1% from 4.6% in the same quarter a year ago.

“Demand for apartments remains strong,” Ryan Severino, a senior economist with Reis, wrote in the report. “Not even the seasonal weakness normally observed during the fourth quarters of calendar years had much if any impact on the market dynamics.”

Investors know rentals are continuing to attract people who are unable to buy.

“Many current renters have financial, credit and mobility constraints,” said Luis Mejia, director of multifamily research, for CoStar, a real estate research firm. He added he isn’t as worried about apartment oversupply as some of his peers.

The Reis report also said, “While national rent growth remains low relative to vacancy, there are a number of markets where rents continue to boom such as San Francisco, Seattle, and San Jose.