February Single-Family Rent Growth Strong, CoreLogic Finds

(Image courtesy of CoreLogic)

CoreLogic, Irvine, Calif., released its Single-Family Rent Index, finding rents rose 3.4% year-over-year in February. That’s the strongest growth recorded in 10 months.

“Single-family rent growth regained strength in February, posting the highest annual appreciation since April 2023,” said Molly Boesel, Principal Economist for CoreLogic. “Monthly rent growth also picked up in February and was higher than what is typically recorded in winter months. Lower-priced properties had the smallest annual rent growth in February, which should be welcome news to renters. However, properties in this price range have seen gains of more than 30% over the past four years, a slightly larger increase than those in the higher-priced range.”

Broken down by tier:

• Lower-priced (defined as 75% or less than the regional median) was up 2.5%. That compares with 7.3% in February 2023.
• Lower-middle priced (defined as 75% to 100% of the regional median) was up 3.1%. That compares with 5.7% in February 2023.
• Higher-middle priced (defined as 100% to 125% of the regional median) was up 3.1%. That compares with 4.4% in February 2023.
• Higher-priced (defined as 125% or more than the regional median) was up 3.2%. That compares with 3.1% in February 2023.
• Attached single-family rent prices grew by 2.9% year-over-year in February. Detached grew 3.7% year-over-year.

CoreLogic noted the data may point to a post-COVID migration back to more expensive cities. New York had the highest year-over-year rental price gain. Rounding out the top three were Seattle and Boston.