U.S. apartment operators appear to be focused on filling vacant units quickly as economic uncertainty amplifies across the country at the start of the prime leasing season. Apartment occupancy surged in April, while rent growth backtracked slightly after seeing modest momentum, according to a RealPage analysis.
Apartment occupancy registered at 95.7% in April, an increase of 40 basis points from March. This marked the strongest monthly boost in occupancy in 15 years, RealPage said. Occupancy is now above historical norms across all regions of the country, although most major markets still posted occupancy below historical norms during the first quarter.
Effective apartment rents grew 0.2% in April from the previous month, which RealPage said is the softest showing in four months. That came after a slightly higher reading in March, with the performance of April slowing growth to one percent on a year-over-year basis.
Recommended For You
The South continued to be the only region cutting rents on an annual basis due to high supply. Rents were down 0.5% in the South while the West had negligible rent growth at 0.5%. The Midwest surged by 3.6% and the Northeast grew by 3.3%.
Supporting the idea that operators are focused on occupancy, some of the markets that have been seeing the deepest rent cuts posted the most notable occupancy bumps in April, said RealPage. Charlotte and Nashville, for example, saw rent cuts marketwide but recorded the strongest occupancy gains among major markets. Several other high supply markets also posted notable occupancy gains in April, including Raleigh/Durham, Denver, Austin, San Antonio and Salt Lake City, according to the report.
Chicago was the only major market that posted rent growth above 5% on an annual basis, as of April. Chicago, New York and Boston, which are among the nation’s most seasonal markets, each had notable monthly rent gains.
Renewal rates remained strong in April, growing 40 bps month-over-month to just above 55% on a trailing 12-month basis, said RealPage. The report said lead volume was robust in April but slightly below March, which suggests new lease signings are likely to remain healthy.
Median rent-to-income ratios in professionally managed market-rate apartments hovered at 22.3% in April, calculated on a trailing 12-month basis, said RealPage.
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
Kristen Smithberg
Kristen Smithberg is a Colorado-based freelance writer who covers commercial real estate, insurance, benefits and retirement topics for BenefitsPRO and other industry publications.
