National increase averaged 2.9% year-over-year in March
The pace of rising rents for single-family homes remained in line with the past year with an average 2.9% year-over-year increase nationwide.
CoreLogic’s Single-Family Rent Index shows that low-end rentals (properties with rent prices less than 75% of the regional median) continue to drive the annual increase with a 3.5% average compared to 2.4% for high-end rentals (properties with rent prices greater than 125% of a region’s median rent).
Western metros showed the highest increases among the 20 metros analyzed with Phoenix up 7.4% year-over-year and Las Vegas up 6.9%. Meanwhile, Miami saw the lowest increase at just 0.4% year-over-year.
Metro areas with limited new construction, low rental vacancies and strong local economies that attract new employees tend to have stronger rent growth.
“Single-family rents strengthened in the first quarter of 2019 compared with the same period a year ago,” said Molly Boesel, principal economist at CoreLogic. “The lowest unemployment rate in 50 years, combined with strong housing demand, have contributed to increasing rents across the country.”
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