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Single-Family Rental Prices Slow This Spring

non-owner-occupied

Single-family rental prices grew at the slowest pace recorded in the past nine years. Single-family rents grew by 2.4% on an annual basis in April, according to CoreLogic’s Single-Family Rent Index [1]. This is the lowest rate recorded since November 2010.

Rent price growth decelerated across all price levels, but the difference was more notable at the lower end of the market. Regardless, lower-priced rents did grow faster than higher-priced rents, as has been typical since spring 2014, according to CoreLogic.

Single-family homes with rents priced at 75% or lower than the regional median rent price, experienced an annual rent price gain of 3.1% in April, down from a 3.6% gain a year earlier.

At the higher end of the market, among properties priced higher than 125% of their region’s median rent, prices increased 2.3% in April, which is just a slight decline from the 2.4% recorded a year ago.

CoreLogic attributes the deceleration in rent prices to uncertainty and shelter-in-place orders this spring, which made people less likely to move.

Rent prices tended to slow more in metros where employment was most impacted during the recession this spring. In Detroit, where employment decreased 24.5% in April, rent price growth was just 0.3%. This is down significantly from the 3.3% growth reported last April.

On the other hand, employment declined 7.6% in Phoenix, where single-family rent price growth was strongest in April. The 6.6% growth reported in April is up just slightly from the 5.9% reported a year ago.

Phoenix’s place as No. 1 for rent growth is no surprise, as the metro has held the position since late 2018, according to CoreLogic.

It also significantly outpaced the city ranking No. 2 for single-family rent price growth in April, Tucson, Arizona, where rent price growth measured 3.7% over the year.

All but one of the 20 largest metros in the nation experienced growth in single-family rent prices in April. St. Louis was the only metro to experience a decline in April, a slight 0.1% fall since last April.