Yardi Matrix Anticipates Minimal Rent Growth for Second Half of Year

(Image courtesy of Yardi Matrix; Breakout image courtesy of Josh Hild/pexels.com)

Yardi Matrix, Santa Barbara, Calif., released its U.S. Multifamily Outlook for Summer 2024, finding that while multifamily performance continues to be strong, rent growth is likely to remain slow through the rest of the year.

Year-to-date through May, asking multifamily rents are up 1.1% year-over-year, and analysts predict 1.7% growth for the calendar year. That’s well below the 24% gain in 2021 and 2022 combined.

The large growth in rents during the pandemic have led to more rent-burdened households and stymied growth in sectors such as Lifestyle units. The rent growth so far this year has been led by Renter-by-Necessity units, up 2% year-over-year as of May. High-end Lifestyle units are down 0.4%, however.

Absorption continues to be solid, with 300,000 units nationally so far in 2024.

Supply growth will be high through the rest of the year and into next, but will begin to moderate after that, Yardi Matrix said. Additionally, deliveries are likely to be uneven regionally, with large chunks in the Sun Belt and Mountain West markets that have seen significant growth.

Through May, Yardi Matrix recorded $19.3 billion of multifamily transactions completed nationally, 24% below the year-earlier period and well below recent years.