Q1 2014 Apartment Market Trends via ReisReports

Asking and effective rents rose by 0.5 and 0.6 percent, respectively, during the first quarter. While these are decent growth figures, it should be noted that this is the slowest pace of growth in rents in the last 12 months, and depending on the neighborhood it is increasingly obvious that landlords are finding it difficult to raise rents by over 5 to 10 percent. Every single submarket that Reis covers now displays effective rent levels that exceed their highs from 2008, before the downturn pummeled the sector. With median wages not rising appreciably, unless the apartment complex caters to the top 1 percent of income earners it will be more of a challenge for landlords to raise rents moving forward. 2014 is going to be an interesting year, with Reis projecting effective rent growth to be slightly stronger versus 2013, but mainly because we are expecting an influx of new apartment units priced at a premium to bump up average rent levels over the period.

Read more...Q1 2014 Apartment Market Trends | ReisReports