Yardi Matrix: Multifamily Rents Rose Slightly in February

(Image courtesy of Yardi Matrix; Breakout image courtesy of Andrea De Santis/pexels.com)

Yardi Matrix, Santa Barbara, Calif., reported the average multifamily asking rent rose $1 in February to $1,713, the first increase in seven months. Year-over-year growth remained flat at 0.6%.

At this point, Yardi said in its National Multifamily Report for 2024, multifamily rents are basically at the same level as 18 months ago.

Single-family rents slipped by $2 to $2,133 in February; year-over-year growth fell by 50 basis points to 1.2%. But, single-family occupancy rates held flat at 95.6% and the fundamentals remained strong, Yardi Matrix said.

The national occupancy of stabilized properties fell by 60 basis points to 94.5% as of January. That metric peaked in late 2021 at 96.2%.

Regionally, rent growth was highest in the Northeast and Midwest. New York City saw 5.4% growth year-over-year, New Jersey was at 3.8%, Columbus, Ohio, was at 3.6%, Kansas City, Mo., was at 3.3% and Chicago was at 3.1%.

The largest decline was in Austin, at 6.2%.

By segment, rents rose 0.1% in the renter-by-necessity segment and were flat in luxury lifestyle.

Renewal rent growth is slowing, similar to the overall deceleration in asking rents. Renewal rents fell to 4.6% nationally year-over-year in January, down 20 basis points from December. And, the national renewal rate averaged 64.8% in January–the first time it has fallen below 65% since July 2021.