Single-Family Rent Price Gains Dip YoY in March

CoreLogic has released its latest Single-Family Rent Index (SFRI), which analyzes single-family rent price changes nationally and across major metropolitan areas.

Annual single-family rent growth dipped to 4.3% in March, marking nearly a year of decelerating gains. All tracked metros posted lower rent growth than in March 2022. Las Vegas and Phoenix saw rents decline year-over-year, mirroring trends observed in CoreLogic’s most recent home price data. Charlotte, North Carolina topped the list for the highest rent growth in March, but the 7.7% increase for this metro was well below that of the 25-to-41% gains recorded for top metros in March 2022.

And while overall U.S. rent growth remains slightly elevated above pre-pandemic rates, higher-priced property gains are normalizing. In March, year-over-year rental cost growth slowed in all four price tiers that CoreLogic tracks, but the lowest tier posted the highest growth, suggesting that a lack of affordability continues to pressure  tenants’ budgets amid a scarce inventory of lower-cost rentals. Furthermore, while rent growth slowed to its lowest rate since February 2021, single-family rents continued to increase, and the cumulative gain since February 2020 has totaled 23.2%.

“Single-family rent price gains continued to slow year over year in March, with growth at about one-third of the rate as observed one year earlier,” said Molly Boesel, principal economist at CoreLogic. “The slowdown is more pronounced in the higher-priced tier, where growth is now about the same as it was before the pandemic. However, gains in the lower tier are still twice the pre-pandemic rate, with all tracked metro areas posting increases at that price level.”

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 6.7%, down from 13.4% in March 2022.
• Lower-middle priced (75% to 100% of the regional median): up 5.3%, down from 14.1% in March 2022.
• Higher-middle priced (100% to 125% of the regional median): up 4.3%, down from 14.5% in March 2022.
• Higher-priced (125% or more than the regional median): up 2.9%, down from 12.9% in March 2022.
• Attached versus detached:Attached single-family rental prices grew by 5% year over year in March, compared with the 3.2% increase for detached rentals.

Charlotte, North Carolina posted the highest year-over-year increase in single-family rents in March 2023, at 7.7%. Orlando, Florida and St. Louis registered the next highest annual gains, a respective 6.6% and 6.4%. Las Vegas and Phoenix saw annual rent price declines, both at -0.2%.

The next CoreLogic Single-Family Rent Index will be released on June 20, 2023, featuring data for April 2023.