THE WALL STREET JOURNAL (SEPTEMBER 26, 2018) – Third-quarter prices rose 2.9% from a year earlier, but tenants can still find deals in major metro areas
Apartment rental prices edged higher in the third quarter, but deals for renters still abound in major metro areas across the U.S. as landlords brace for more supply in the months ahead.
Apartment rents rose 2.9% in the third quarter from a year earlier, up from 2.5% annual rent growth in the second quarter, according to real estate analytics firm RealPage Inc. A strong economy with better wage growth helped boost demand for apartments. So did a weak home-sales market, as tight supply may have prompted more renters to put off buying.
“There definitely doesn’t seem to be the pressure to buy that was there a little bit earlier,” said Greg Willett, chief economist at RealPage.
The rental market has still slowed significantly from a few years ago, when rents grew by 5.2% in the third quarter of 2015. But Mr. Willet said that “an upward blip rather than a downward blip” shows at least that the slowdown isn’t accelerating.
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