On a rolling four-quarter basis, national resident satisfaction decreased again in Q1 2020. In the past two quarters it decreased by 0.1 percentage points, but in the first quarter of 2020 it decreased by 0.4 percentage points. This past quarter, 78% of residents reported “Good” or “Excellent” satisfaction with their overall renting experience, which is also down 0.5 percentage points from the first quarter of 2019.
Atlanta is continuing the market's trend of year-over-year decreases this quarter with a 1.8 percentage point decrease. Denver saw the same decrease, but Chicago decreased the most with a 2.4% decrease year over year. Boston continues to have the highest overall satisfaction of the major markets, with 84% of residents satisfied with their living experience. Once again, Los Angeles saw the highest increase from this time last year, up 1.7 percentage points, followed by San Francisco with an increase of 1.3 percentage points.
San Francisco Continues to Lead Major Markets in Increase of Value for Amount Paid
For the past five quarters, national value for amount paid has risen by half a percentage point each quarter. This quarter, however, it only rose by 0.1 percentage points. Just 62% of residents were satisfied with the value received for their rent, up from 61.9% in the last quarter of 2019. Similar to last quarter, all major markets but Atlanta and Denver saw a year-over-year increase. San Francisco saw the largest increase in value for amount paid this quarter with a 5.7 percentage point increase over this time last year. Boston continues to be in the lead, with 67.5% of its residents satisfied with the value received for their rent.
National Resident Renewal Intentions Down This Quarter
National resident renewal intentions took a slight dive this past quarter, from 58.1% to 57.7% of residents indicating they are likely to renew their lease. Of the major markets, Los Angeles once again had the highest year-over-year increase of 7.6 percentage points, and Dallas saw an increase of 4.5 percentage points. The market with the highest renewal intentions is, once again, Boston with 65.9% of residents likely to renew. Denver had the largest year-over-year decrease in renewal intentions this quarter with a 3.7 percentage point drop.
A Note About the Impact of COVID-19
Most of the survey response data collected from residents in Q1 predated the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, in mid-April Kingsley conducted a broad national Resident Sentiment survey in partnership with Apartments.com. In addition to gauging the financial and economic impact on apartment dwellers, the survey results reveal that renters tend to have low levels of satisfaction with management service with respect to the coronavirus pandemic. The percentage of residents satisfied with management communication, cleaning, and general customer service related to the COVID-19 crisis was 45% or lower for each metric.
Notably, the findings from this Resident Sentiment Survey differ significantly from the survey results of Kingsley clients, who tend to have a large focus on customer service and resident satisfaction. Since the onset of the pandemic, resident satisfaction with management for Kingsley clients was actually in line with the prior year: April 2020 satisfaction with management was 73.8% compared with 75% in April 2019. Additionally, the majority of resident comments do not mention the pandemic, while those that do are often positive with praising the maintenance or management teams working through hardship and overcoming difficulty. The data confirms companies that place a high priority on service delivery and keeping open lines of communication with residents are more likely to maintain high levels of resident satisfaction during these challenging times.
