McAllen, Texas has seen the highest rental cost increases in the nation over the past year, according to a new report released by RentRage. Their researchers collected rental data on about 250,000 three-bedroom, single-family homes and then ranked the top 25 metro areas by average rental rate increases for single-family homes between the fourth quarter of 2016 and the same quarter in 2015.
While rents remain persistently high in the Bay Area, San Francisco dropped several positions on RentRage’s list this year as its rate increases slowed there. RentRage highlighted rental rate increases in like Cape Coral, Fla., and Portland, which both moved up the list into the top five this year. McAllen, Denver, Boston, Nashville, and Miami are all newcomers to the list.
“As we begin 2017, it continues to look bright for single-family rental investors,” says Wally Charnoff, chief executive officer, RentRange Data Services. “Compared to the Q3 2016 change in rent, we are seeing the percentage change begin to lessen while rents continue to increase, which should ultimately stabilize demand, keeping vacancy rates down. It remains important for investors to look at stability within a market, focusing on the market’s activity over time to ensure there is a good balance--low historical volatility with a current upswing.”
The following are RentRage’s rankings for year-over-year rental rate increases, based on fourth quarter 2016 data.
Source: “RentRage Identifies 25 Markets with the Largest Rental Rate Increases,” Altisource (Feb. 27, 2017)
