National Average Year Over Year Rent Growth Is A Modest 1.5%

Our national rent index jumped by 0.4 percent from March to April, the largest month-over-month increase we have observed since June 2017. This spike appears to signal the end of the renting off-season, as apartment hunting activity picks back up through the spring and summer. Year-over-year growth currently stands at 1.5 percent, still trailing the levels from the two prior years, but by a narrowing gap.

Prior to this month, the national median rent stayed essentially flat for nine months. From last June through this March, our national index increased by a total of just 0.3 percent, which is less than the 0.4 percent increase we observed over the past month. Flat or declining rents are typical in the fall and winter months when fewer renters are looking to move, but growth was also sluggish for much of last summer, which is normally the peak season for rent growth. This month’s heightened growth could be an aberration, but it may also signal an end to this stretch of stagnant rent growth.

Year-over-year growth currently stands at 1.5 percent at the national level, which is just below the 1.6 percent rate we saw this time last year but still significantly lagging the 2.5 percent rate from April 2017. Rent growth is slightly trailing the overall rate of inflation, which stands at 1.9 percent as of the latest data release. However, rent growth is still well behind growth in average hourly earnings, which have increased by 3.2 percent over the past twelve months. This moderation in rent growth relative to income growth has provided a welcome bit of relief as millions of our nation’s renters continue to struggle with housing affordability.