Trulia: Rent Increases Accelerating in DC

• August 7, 2012
• 4 Comments

by Shilpi Paul

Courtesy of Trulia Trends

Data released today reveals that rent increases in the DC area continue to accelerate. In July, asking rents were up 3.9 percent year-over-year, following a 3.5 percent increase in June, according to Trulia’s latest Price and Rent Monitors, which were released this morning.

While that may seem like a notable increase, it paled in comparison to rents in other major market. Rents increased country-wide by 5.3 percent year-over-year, with six metropolitan areas —Seattle, San Francisco, Raleigh, Oakland, Miami and Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL — seeing increases over 10 percent.

“Rents increased year over year in 24 of the 25 largest rental markets, and rose faster than home prices in 21 of those 25,” Trulia Chief Economist Jed Kolko said. “In six major markets, rents increased by more than 10% year over year, with San Francisco clocking the largest increase at 12.4%. To put this into perspective, only two large rental markets had year-over-year rent increases of 10% or more three months ago.”

For more stats and analysis, click here.

A full explanation of Trulia’s methodology can be found here, but in short, the Price and Rent Monitors compare current asking prices and asking rents year-over-year and quarter-over-quarter, adjusting for seasonal swings.

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This article originally published at http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/trulia_rent_increases_accelerating_in_dc/5874

4 Comments

1. Susan Isaacs, Realtor said at 7:12 pm on Tuesday August 7, 2012:
   Thanks for putting this useful data together, Paul!

1. Anita said at 11:41 pm on Tuesday August 7, 2012:
   Shilpi, I enjoy reading your posts- they're always interesting and well-researched. With that said, I think UrbanTurf needs to devote more attention to the supply and demand dynamics in the market right now. We haven't had much new supply in multifamily since 2009, but there's been on-going job growth in DC - which means on-going demand for places to live. No new supply plus on-going demand will push up rent prices - as the data in the article shows. High rent and job growth are also pushing up demand (and therefore prices) in the for-sale market. However, as developers throughout the region begin to deliver apartment and condo buildings in the coming months, pressure on prices should decline. This is why real estate is cyclical. Prices may go down further if the federal government cuts spending or the economy slows further. I'm curious about how developers are managing that risk - the chance of oversupply causing them to miss their targets. I read that we have 8000 units set to deliver by mid-2013 - that's way higher than historic absorption... sounds like trouble brewing to me - but no one seems concerned!

1. Mark Wellborn said at 11:48 pm on Tuesday August 7, 2012:
   Anita, Thanks for your comment. We did an article in early April after a report was released from Delta Associates on many of the issues you bring up in your comment. You can read it here: http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/dc_will_be_a_renters_market_by_late_2012/5365 We will also look into an article on how developers plan on managing the risk of oversupply. Thanks, Mark Wellborn Editor

1. Anita said at 9:44 pm on Wednesday August 8, 2012:
   That would be great!