CoStar Group Inc., through its Apartments.com platform, found rents declined 0.1% between July and August. The U.S. median rental price declined from $1,781 in July to $1,771 last month, according to Realtor.com. RealPage Inc., though, found same-property asking rents for new leases climbed 0.4% between July and August 2022.
This year, rental-rate growth has remained strong, although the rate of growth started to slow this spring and summer. Inflation, higher interest rates and "As rent growth either goes flat or negative in the short run — is that such a big deal after it went 30% over the past two years? We have to keep it in context," Scherer said.
The continued housing shortage, and fewer people able to purchase a home now because of higher mortgage rates, will keep the sector relatively strong, he added. "There are a tremendous amount of jobs that aren’t necessarily in the primary gateway cities that are in secondary cities," such as in Kentucky, Georgia, Oklahoma and Kansas, he continued."People are going to migrate to the jobs."Analysts at Newport Beach, California-based commercial real estate research firm Green Street LLC also say markets with continued job growth will translate to need for housing.