CoreLogic [1] has released its latest Single-Family Rent Index (SFRI) [2], showing that U.S. annual single-family rent growth continued to slow year-over-year in January, declining for the ninth straight month to 5.7%. Orlando, Florida posted the country’s largest annual gain for the third consecutive month, while Miami dropped out of the top three highest-growth markets for the first time since the summer of 2021. None of the 20 metro areas that CoreLogic tracks posted double-digit year-over-year rent gains, the first time that trend has been observed since late 2020.
Nevertheless, rent growth and gains in all four price tiers were still higher in January than before the pandemic. Though annual gains in all price tiers have steadily declined since last summer, the low tier has experienced stronger growth. The lowest-priced single-family rentals were up by 8.5% year-over-year in January, higher than the other three tiers. Low-tier growth is now about three times the pre-pandemic rate, which is likely squeezing renters on tight budgets.
“January’s single-family rent growth cooled to the lowest level since the spring of 2021,” said Molly Boesel, principal economist at CoreLogic. “While rent growth is slowing at all tracked price tiers, declines for the lowest-cost rentals are not as significant, which raises affordability concerns. Annual rent growth for lower-tier properties was about three times the pre-pandemic rate, while gains in the highest tier were nearly one-and-a-half times during the same period.”
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): 8.5%, down from 12.1% in January 2022
- Lower-middle priced (75% to 100% of the regional median): 6.5%, down from 13.3% in January 2022
- Higher-middle priced (100% to 125% of the regional median): 5.5%, down from 13.5% in January 2022
- Higher-priced (125% or more than the regional median): 4.3%, down from 12.4% in January 2022
- Attached versus detached: Attached single-family rental prices grew by 6.2% year over year in January, compared with the 4.7% increase for detached rentals
Orlando, Florida posted the highest year-over-year increase in single-family rents in January 2023, at 8.9%. Charlotte, North Carolina recorded the second-highest gain at 8%, while New York and Boston ranked third, both at 7.4%. Phoenix saw the lowest annual rent price gain at 0.6%.
The next CoreLogic Single-Family Rent Index will be released on April 18, 2023, featuring data for February 2023.
To read the full report, including more data, charts and methodology, click here [3].