Who’s Bearing the Brunt of Rent Increases?

CoreLogic has released its latest Single-Family Rent Index (SFRI), analyzing single-family rent price changes nationally and across major metropolitan areas. Although annual U.S. single-family rent growth eased again in August, renters are still feeling the pinch.

According to a recent CoreLogic analysis, the average American renter household spends about 40% of its income on housing costs, with lower-income tenants bearing much of the brunt of inflation. The SFRI’s low tier saw the largest year-over-year rental cost gain in August—up by 4.2%—while the high tier registered a 2.4% annual increase.

“While annual single-family rent growth has returned to a moderate pace, more than three years of substantial increases will have a lasting impact on tenants’ budgets,” said Molly Boesel, Principal Economist for CoreLogic. “Single-family rents grew by 30% since February 2020, and small drops in some areas barely put a dent in the overall, cumulative increase. For example, even though rents in the Miami metro area have declined by 0.5% since August 2022, they are still 51% higher than they were before the pandemic began.”

Geographical Areas with the Highest Single-Family Rent (SFR) Change:

1. St. Louis
2. Chicago-Naperville-Arlington Heights, IL
3. Boston
4. San Diego-Carlsbad, CA
5. New York, Jersey City-White Plains, NY-NJ
6. Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC
7. Urban Honolulu, HI
8. Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL
9. Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX
10. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, CA

To gain a detailed view of single-family rental prices across different market segments, CoreLogic examines four tiers of rental prices and two property-type tiers. National single-family rent growth across those tiers, and the year-over-year changes, were as follows:

• Lower-priced (75% or less than the regional median): up 4.2%, down from 12.6% in August 2022.
• Lower-middle priced (75% to 100% of the regional median): up 3.3%, down from 12.7% in August 2022.
• Higher-middle priced (100% to 125% of the regional median): up 2.6%, down from 12.1% in August 2022.
• Higher-priced (125% or more than the regional median): up 2.4%, down from 9.8% in August 2022.
• Attached versus detached:Attached single-family rental prices grew by 3.5% year over year in August, compared with the 2.3% increase for detached rentals.

St. Louis posted the highest year-over-year increase in single-family rents in August 2023, at 7%. Chicago registered the second-highest annual gain at 5.7%, followed by Boston and San Diego (both 5.6%). Austin, Texas (-0.9%), Las Vegas (-0.8%), and Miami (-0.5%) again saw slight year-over-year rental cost decreases.

The next CoreLogic Single-Family Rent Index will be released on November 21, 2023, featuring data for September 2023.

To read the full report, including more data, charts, and methodology, click here.