On Monday, June 8, we published our monthly National Rent Report, highlighting national rent trend data as well as data by state and by city.
In this month’s report, we explained a few key market trends:
🔑 Rent has increased across all apartments types in line with the seasonal rent swing.
🔑 A population boom has driven up rent prices in Fargo, ND.
🔑 Median prices are increasing across the state of New Mexico.
While rent trends differ from region to region, here’s what you need to know about rent prices on a national level:
🔑 The national median asking rent price of one-bedroom apartments ($1,550) increased by 2.6% from April to May.
🔑 The summer tends to be the most popular — and as a result, the most expensive — time of year for renters to start a new lease. These swings are often less dramatic in areas where the weather is warm year-round (Think: The Southeast and Southwest) and more prominent in areas with harsh winters that make moving apartments difficult (like the Midwest and Northeast). We expect to see the median rent price continue to increase through August based on past trends.
In this month’s report, we dove deep into the following trend:
🔑 Population growth in North Dakota over the last two decades (+24%) is outpacing the nation — and its impacts are especially noticeable in major city centers like Fargo.
🔑 While employment opportunities and population have both been increasing significantly over the years, wages and affordable housing supply have not; many renters cannot stomach the high costs of newer rental properties in Fargo. As a result, the median rent price for a one-bedroom apartment in Fargo is up 4.8% MoM and 14.1% YoY. Prices are increasing at a similar rate for two-bedroom apartments as well.
🔑 Restrictive development laws are leading to major rent growth and a housing shortage in New Mexico.
🔑 While the rest of the Southwest has seen an abundance of new housing in accordance with population growth, New Mexico has not followed suit. The state is the only one in the Southwest that has not passed laws to allow more housing development — causing price increases on older housing stock.
🔑 At the state level, renters in New Mexico tend to be cost burdened. At least half spend a third of their income on rent, while 25% of renters spends more than half of their income on housing.