Prices Hold Steady in Single-Family Rental Space

Rent growth is returning to pre-pandemic rates in the single-family rental space, as prices continue to hold steady, according to CoreLogic’s latest Single-Family Rent Index (SFRI). Although rent prices are increasing slowly, they continue to steadily climb.

Single-family rental prices rose 2.9% year over year in June, equal to the previous month’s gains, said CoreLogic. That compares with rent increases of 2.8% from June 2022 to June 2023. Monthly increases rose 1% between May and June, about equal to the average rental price gain of 0.9% year over year between 2004 and 2019.

Of the 20 core-based statistical areas CoreLogic tracks, eight posted gains of more than 4% and seven metro areas had median rents exceeding $3,000. The Washington, DC, metro area led the country for annual rent growth at 6.5%. Seattle followed with annual rent growth of 6.1% and New York rounded out the top three with rent growth of 5.4%. Meanwhile, Phoenix and Austin, Texas, both posted annual rental price losses, according to the SFRI.

Rental prices for low-end properties were up 1.9% compared to high-end ones where costs increased 3.1% year over year. Attached single-family rental prices rose by 2.6% year-over-year in June, compared with the 2.8% increase for detached rentals.

“Single-family rents have been bouncing around their pre-pandemic rate of growth of about 3% this year after growing by double digits for most of 2021 and 2022. At the end of 2023, they did slow to the mid-2% range,” said Molly Boesel, principal economist for CoreLogic. “While single-family rents are increasing at a stable rate, median rent continues to rise and has increased over $300 over the past two years.”