Expectations overall for 2018 are strong, but Nat Kunes of AppFolio says the multifamily rent growth will continue to slow this year. Last growth, the double-digit rent growth Los Angeles had seen in prior years began to slow, and that is a trend that will continue through 2018 as we see rents return to historical numbers. We sat down with Kunes, VP of product management at AppFolio, to talk about rent growth trends this year.

GlobeSt.com: We saw slowed rent growth this year. Do you think that trend will continue through 2018, and what is causing it?

Nat Kunes: Yes, rent growth is falling to more historic averages of around two percent. In large part, this has to do with a reverse in supply and demand. There's been tremendous construction in a lot of metro areas around the country over the past few years to a point where some cities are seeing surplus supply, which then brings down overall occupancy rates. Another factor in this is that, in contrast to historic trends, people have had a tendency to live in their rental units for much longer periods of time and have reached a point where they are starting to move out of those rentals, which impacts the market vacancies and openings cycle. This will make for a more competitive and challenging landscape for property owners, investors and managers.