DC Class A Apartment Rents Increase 18%, As Deliveries Drop and Absorption Shoots Up

• May 2nd 2022

by Nena Perry-Brown

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Despite strong growth in DC, apartment rents have not fully recovered to pre-pandemic levels, however they have risen notably in the last 12 months. Today, UrbanTurf takes a closer look at the newest report from Delta Associates on the Class A apartment market to see where in DC rents have gone up the most over the past year.

Overall, the average apartment rent for Class A units in DC is back to 98% of what it was in March 2020. The Upper Northwest submarket is the city's only area where rents have fully recovered, at 104% of what they were two years ago. Overall, average Class A rents citywide increased by 18.3%, and each submarket in DC proper saw rent growth year-over-year.

The report notes that the city's emergency rent moratorium has contributed to slow rent recovery, however, other factors are conspiring in favor of higher rent growth. New apartment deliveries fell 31% over the past 12 months while apartment absorption has risen 244% during that same period, with DC accounting for almost half of the area units absorbed.

The Capitol Hill/Capitol Riverfront/Southwest submarket had the highest absorption (3,514 units) in the DC region, while the NoMa/H Street submarket had the most deliveries area-wide (1,641 units). These two submarkets also account for almost two-thirds of the city's 36-month pipeline.

Neither of those submarkets saw DC's highest rent growth, however; that distinction belongs to the Northeast submarket, where Class A rents rose by 21.8% over the past 12 months. The Central submarket comes in second with 21% rent growth, followed by Upper Georgia Avenue with 20% rent growth. 

Note: The rents are an average of studios, one and two-bedroom rental rates at Class A high-rise buildings in DC. Class A apartment buildings typically have full amenity packages. 

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/dc-class-a-rents-increase-18-as-deliveries-drop/19596.