Renter Demand Highest for This Mid-Western City
Minnesota has one of the strongest employment profiles in the nation.
Minneapolis is enjoying a relatively warm November, but cold, sustained temperatures are on the way.
However, the Twin Cities was the hottest market for apartment demand, year over year for November, according to a new report from Yardi’s Rent Café, based on website traffic on rentcafe.com.
In November, traffic for Minneapolis’ apartment listings increased by 150% compared to this time last year, helping the city climb to the top spot in the rankings.
Renters saved 162% more personalized searches on RentCafe.com than one year ago, solidifying Minneapolis’ popularity among apartment hunters.
Per the data, Minneapolis is attracting city-centric interest and from renters in Chicago, Dallas, and St. Paul.
“Minnesota has one of the strongest employment profiles in the nation with more than 3 million Minnesotans working in October, the highest total ever recorded,” according to Yardi’s Doug Ressler.
“The wild card for apartment demand in the coming months will be mortgage interest rates,” Ressler said.
“While employment growth, in‐migration, and household formation typically drive demand for rentals, higher mortgage rates have made homeownership more expensive than it was a year or two ago.
“For an untold number of would-be homebuyers, renting might make more sense. That’s especially true when house prices are on the rise, which has been the case in the Twin Cities.”
The southwest suburbs — including St. Louis Park, Edina, and Minnetonka — are experiencing the most turbulence as the area adjusts to a surge in apartment construction.
The Twin Cities is the 19th largest multifamily market with 243,507 completed units and 72,620 units in development, 19,725 of which have already broken ground.
New lease asking rents are at $1,489, up 1.6% from the previous year placing the Twin Cities at 68th overall in year-over-year rent growth.
Multifamily housing demand has been positive with 6,22 net units absorbed over the past 12 months.
RentCafe’s report said that the Midwest is still the most popular region for renters in November after seeing more apartment searches than one year ago.
Sun Belt destinations gained ground in November with seven new entries in the top 30.
Other markets that performed well are Atlanta, which climbed three positions to the second spot after ranking in the top 10 throughout the high season for renting.
Detroit ranked third and Cincinnati was fourth.