It comes as no surprise that, following the extreme rent growth in 2010 and 2011, the national annual rent growth is falling moderately, hitting 2.8 percent in February, according to the latest Axiometrics report.
Athens, Ohio ranked as the top performing market, with a rent growth rate of 9.7 percent in February, much higher than its 1.3 percent growth rate in February 2013. And though markets in California and Florida are bucking the trend and generating rent growth well above 5 percent, plenty of markets are taking a huge dip.
For the eighth consecutive month, Washington, D.C. ranked as one of the weakest markets with rent growth at -1.5 percent, followed by Philadelphia and New York with -1.3 and -0.3 percent, respectively.
Occupancy is still high across national markets, however, at 94.3 percent, up 14 basis points from January. Despite the lull in numbers, the market is still strong by historical standards, with new units delivered since 2012 averaging near $1,320 per unit and $1.46 per square foot.
Rank* |
MSA |
Annual Effective Rent Growth |
Occupancy Rate |
Revenue Growth |
|||
Feb-13 |
Feb-14 |
Feb-13 |
Feb-14 |
Feb-13 |
Feb-14 |
||
1 |
Athens, OH | 1.4% |
9.7% |
94.6% |
98.5% |
2.2% |
13.7% |
2 |
Naples, FL | 3.8% |
13.0% |
97.9% |
97.8% |
5.1% |
12.9% |
3 |
Odessa, TX | 15.2% |
11.5% |
99.0% |
97.7% |
16.2% |
10.3% |
4 |
Santa Rosa, CA | 6.0% |
9.4% |
96.6% |
97.0% |
6.6% |
9.8% |
5 |
Oakland, CA | 7.4% |
8.6% |
96.0% |
96.4% |
8.0% |
9.0% |
6 |
San Francisco, CA | 4.4% |
8.1% |
95.2% |
95.6% |
3.2% |
8.5% |
7 |
San Jose, CA | 5.9% |
8.0% |
96.0% |
96.0% |
5.4% |
8.0% |
8 |
Portland, OR | 3.0% |
7.6% |
95.2% |
95.5% |
3.3% |
7.9% |
9 |
Miami, FL | 4.6% |
7.4% |
95.9% |
96.3% |
4.2% |
7.9% |
10 |
Vallejo, CA | 1.3% |
6.8% |
95.6% |
96.4% |
1.9% |
7.7% |
-Linsey Isaacs is an assistant editor with Multifamily Executive magazine. Follow her on twitter @LinseyI to continue this conversation.
