CoreLogic®, a leading global property information, analytics and data-enabled solutions provider, today released its latest Single-Family Rent Index (SFRI), which analyzes single-family rent price changes nationally and across major metropolitan areas. The report highlights the slowing growth in key rental metros which all experienced population spikes during the pandemic.
Annual U.S. rent growth registered a 1.7% increase in October, down from the 2.3% growth rate seen at the same time last year and marking the lowest rate since June 2020. Prior to 2020, single-family rent growth increased in the range of 2% to 4% for nearly a decade and averaged 3.5%.
The monthly growth rate for October was -1.5%, which was below the average -0.5% for October from 2004 through 2019. This marks the third consecutive month of below-trend seasonal growth, a clear sign that rent growth is decelerating.
“Single-family rents posted below-trend growth in October, both in annual and monthly rate increases. While national growth was below-trend, some markets, particularly markets that have had tepid rent increases over the past two years, led rent increases for the nation,” said CoreLogic senior principal economist Molly Boesel. “Markets in the South and West, many of which had red-hot rent growth since 2022 brought down average rent growth.”
Of the largest 20 metros shown in this report, Detroit posted the highest year-over-year increase in single-family rents in October 2024, at 6%, followed by Washington, D.C. (4.5%). Four metros showed decreases in annual growth in October, with Austin posting the lowest at -3%, followed by Phoenix (-1.2%), Orlando (-1.1%), and Dallas (-1%). Rents in Austin have been falling since mid-2023, though the decreases have not wiped out the growth since 2020. Austin’s increase in rents since Feb 2020 was 22%.
High-end rent prices increased 2.4% since October 2023, up from last year’s 1.8% growth. Low-end rent prices increased 2.0% in October, a slowdown from the 3.0% seen at the same time last year.
