Capitol Riverfront and H Street See Big Rent Increases

• July 5th 2012

by UrbanTurf Staff

Back in April, we reported that the DC area could be a renter’s market, at least for a spell, by later this year. While that still may be true, rents in DC proper have increased notably, particularly in specific neighborhoods, over the last year.

A report out earlier this week from Delta Associates analyzing the regional apartment market in the second quarter of 2012 states that rents for Class A apartments in the city are up 6.8 percent versus last year, with the largest increases in the upcoming sub-markets of NoMa/H Street (10.3 percent) and Capitol Hill/Capitol Riverfront (9 percent). To give these percentages some real meaning, Class A apartments in DC now rent for $2,613 a month on average compared to $2,481 a month last year; a Class B apartment rents for $1,892 compared to $1,794 last year. (The rents are a weighted average of all the units in the city.)

Here is a quick snapshot of average rents for investment-grade apartments in DC sub-markets, as defined by Delta:

• Central: (Penn Quarter, Logan Circle, Dupont Circle, etc.) — $2,837 a month
• Upper Northwest: $2,656 a month
• Columbia Heights/Shaw: $2,590 a month
• NoMa/H Street: $2,545 a month
• Capitol Riverfront: $2,347 a month

The rent increases (that will likely make area residents shudder) are closely tied to vacancy rates. The vacancy rate in the city for Class A apartments sits at just 2.5 percent, compared to 3.8 percent last quarter and 4 percent at this point last year, and for Class B apartments, it is just 2.7 percent.

Definitions:

• Class A apartments are typically large buildings built after 1991, with full amenity packages. Class B buildings are generally older buildings that have been renovated and/or have more limited amenity packages.

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/capitol_riverfront_and_h_street_see_big_rent_increases/5735.