CoreLogic Finds U.S. Single-Family Rent Growth Back to Pre-Pandemic Numbers

(Courtesy CoreLogic)

CoreLogic, Irvine, Calif., released its Single-Family Rent Index for May, finding that single-family rental cost gains rose by 3.4% year-over-year in May, tracking closely with historical pre-pandemic rates.

However, since the start of the pandemic, single-family median rents have increased by 30%.

CoreLogic breaks rental properties into different tiers:

• Lower-priced (75% or less than the regional median): up 5.6%, down from 14.4% in May 2022.
• Lower-middle priced (75% to 100% of the regional median): up 4.3%, down from 14.8% in May 2022.
• Higher-middle priced (100% to 125% of the regional median): up 3.7%, down from 14.9% in May 2022.
• Higher-priced (125% or more than the regional median): up 2.1%, down from 13% in May 2022.

Attached single-family rental prices grew by 4.2% year-over-year in May, compared with a 2.5% increase for detached rentals

“After increasing at an accelerated pace for more than two years, annual single-family rent growth returned to the pre-pandemic rate in May,” said Molly Boesel, principal economist for CoreLogic. “High inflation may be affecting renters’ abilities to absorb continually higher monthly payments, which could be keeping year-over-year rent increases relatively low. However, even in the current economic environment, monthly single-family rent increases returned to a typical seasonal pattern in February of this year, suggesting that single-family rents are poised to continue increasing throughout 2023.”

The Chicago metro area recorded the highest year-over-year increase in single-family rents in May 2023, at 6.6%. That was followed by Charlotte, N.C., (5.9%), and Boston, New York and Orlando, Fla., (all at 5.7%). Las Vegas saw an annual rent price decrease of 1.3%.