Single-Family Rents Through the Roof, Up 39 Percent in Miami
By Mark Hallum March 16, 2022 5:08 pm
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Renting a single-family home has become more challenging over the past year as rates have increased at record numbers, especially in South Florida, according to a report from CoreLogic.
Nationwide, single-family rents increased by 12.6 percent in January on a year-over-year basis, led by Miami, where there was a 39 percent spike, per the report. This marked the fastest year-over-year increase in over 17 years and the 10th consecutive month of record-level rent growth.
Orlando came in second, with rent gains of 20 percent in 2022. At the other end of the spectrum, the Washington, D.C., area came in last with an annual rent growth of 5.6 percent in January.
As home prices have increased, many would-be homebuyers have been pushed into renting, inflating rents even further. In January, the cost of buying a home rose by 19 percent on an annual basis in 2022, according to CoreLogic.
Potential homebuyers have also been priced out by the institutional buyers who are now renting out their homes. In Miami, 28 percent of homes purchased in 2021 were acquired by institutional buyers, according to real estate platform Redfin. In Orlando, it was 30 percent.
Molly Boesel, principal economist at CoreLogic, believes the increases are also attributable to population growth in areas like Miami-Dade County, where 2.7 million people were recorded in the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau count compared to 2.5 million in 2010.
CoreLogic began categorizing single-family rental data in its rent reports by property type as the pandemic pushed many renters from more congested areas with attached homes to standalone properties in lower density areas. As the health crisis progressed, the difference in rent prices between attached and detached single-family rentals started to close over the fall as rental inventory became scarce.
This January, CoreLogic recorded attached rental property prices growing by 12.2 percent year over year in contrast to the 12.4 percent increase recorded for detached homes over the same period of time.
Mark Hallum can be reached at mhallum@commercialobserver.com.
