The National Multifamily Housing Council’s Rent Payment Tracker shows that 91.3% of renter households had made a full or partial rent payment by July 20, according to a survey of 11.1 million professionally managed market-rate multifamily units across the country.
This reading marks a 2.1 percentage point decrease from the share of renters who made a July rent payment through July 20, 2019, and compares with the 92.2% of renters that made a payment by June 20, 2020.
The Rent Payment Tracker is designed to provide insight into changes in resident rent payment behavior over time, as well as the impact of government stimulus and the track of the recovery. While the data provides a comprehensive look at professionally managed market rate units, it does not cover smaller landlords or affordable properties.
“The extended unemployment benefits and other government support that have proven critical to keeping apartment residents in their homes expire in just a few days,” says Doug Bibby, NMHC president. “Lawmakers are currently negotiating, but members of Congress and Trump administration leaders need to understand that unless comprehensive action is taken now to protect the tens of millions of Americans who live in an apartment home, they risk destabilizing the nation’s housing market, undermining the nascent economic recovery, and turning the ongoing health and economic crisis into a housing crisis."
In a recent report, MRI Software, one of the NMHC’s data partners in the Rent Payment Tracker, found that rent pricing at market-rate properties had risen in June, recovering from a 5% decrease in May. According to the report, this reflects low turnover and tight unit supply across all asset classes, as well as a surge in demand for market-rate units.
MRI’s data also shows a continued rise in credit card payments among market rate residents—up 78% in June from February. “Residents may be amassing credit card debt in order to pay rent,” says Brian Zrimsek, industry principal at MRI Software. “This is especially worrisome given the coming expiration of enhanced employment benefits, along with the rise in COVID-19 cases in major multifamily markets across the country, which could lead to renewed shutdowns and more unemployment.”
