U.S. Single-Family Rents Up 12.6% Year Over Year in January
- Annual rent growth hit 10th consecutive record high in January.
- Rent growth was strongest in the Sun Belt.
Overall Single-Family Rent Growth
U.S. single-family rent growth increased 12.6% in January 2022, the fastest year-over-year increase in over 17 years[1], according to the CoreLogic Single-Family Rent Index (SFRI). January marked the 10th consecutive month of record-level rent growth. The index measures rent changes among single-family rental homes, including condominiums, using a repeat-rent analysis to measure the same rental properties over time. Annual rent growth in January 2022 was more than triple the gain recorded in January 2021 and more than quadruple the increase from January 2020.
Single-Family Rent Growth by Price Tier
Rent growth continued at a rapid pace for all price tiers in January. The low-price tier is defined as properties with rent prices less than 75% of the region’s median rent, and the high-price tier is defined as properties with rent prices greater than 125% of a region’s median rent (Figure 1).
Rent prices for the low-price tier increased 12% year over year in January 2022, up from 3% in January 2021. Meanwhile, high-price rentals increased 12.2% in January 2022, up from a gain of 4.5% in January 2021. This was the fastest increase in the history of the SFRI for both the low- and high-price rent tiers.
Figure 1: National Single-Family Rent Index Year-Over-Year Percent Change By Price Tier
Single-Family Rent Growth by Property Type
Differences in rent growth by property type[2] emerged after the pandemic as renters sought out standalone properties in lower density areas (Figure 2). Rent growth for detached properties far outpaced that of attached properties for most of 2021. In recent months rent growth for attached properties has accelerated and the difference in rent growth by property type is now similar to what it was prior to the pandemic. Annual rent growth for detached rentals was 12.4% in January, compared with 12.2% for attached rentals.
Figure 2: Rent Growth Slowed for Detached Properties and Strengthened Attached Properties
Metro-Level Results
Figure 3 shows the year-over-year change in the rental index for 20 large metropolitan areas in January 2022. Among the 20 metro areas shown, Miami, with an increase of 38.6%, stood out with the highest year-over-year rent growth in January, followed by Orlando at 19.9%. Washington, D.C. had the lowest increase at 5.6%, and Boston (+13.7%) showed significant improvement from a year ago when rents decreased 7.8%. All 20 metros shown in Figure 3 had higher rent growth than a year earlier.
Figure 3: Single-Family Rent Index Year-Over-Year Percent Change in 20 Markets
In January, U.S. single-family home rent growth hit its 10th consecutive record. Rents increased across the country, with Sun Belt cities once again registering the largest gains. The robust price growth was partially due to a continuing shortage of available rental properties. Also, the cost of purchasing a home rose by 19% on an annual basis in January, shutting out many would-be homeowners and forcing them to keep renting.
[1] The Single-Family Rent Index series begins in January 2004 and the year-over-year growth rate begins in January 2005.
[2] The detached property type tier is defined as properties with a free-standing residential building, and the attached property type tier is defined as a single-family dwelling that is attached to other single-family dwellings, which includes duplexes, triplexes, quadplexes, townhouses, row-houses, condos and co-ops.
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