Rent Growth for Lower-Priced Rental Homes Stayed Strong

Last July CoreLogic reported that, nationally, rent growth on single-family homes had begun to moderate in 2016 based on the CoreLogic Single-Family Rental Index (SFRI). Now that it is six months later, has that trend continued?

Analysis of the CoreLogic SFRI shows that the slowing in the aggregate index has continued.1 However, an analysis of the index into lower-priced rental and higher-priced rental homes reveals important differences by rent tier. Figure 1 shows that the overall SFRI growth was pulled down by the high-end market, defined as properties with rents of 125 percent or more of the local-area median, although growth in the low-end market, properties with rents less than 75 percent of the local-area median, remained strong. In October 2016, the national SFRI increased 3.4 percent from a year ago, down from 4 percent in October 2015. By tier, rents on lower-priced rental homes increased 5.4 percent, up from 5 percent in October 2015, while rents on higher-priced rental homes increased 2.5 percent, down from 3.4 percent in October 2015.  Read more