2020 Rent Growth
A year-over-year comparison of all asset classes across 30 major metros, provided monthly by Yardi Matrix.
Year-over-year, all asset classes

National average includes 127 markets tracked by Matrix, not just the 30 metros listed above.
Source: Yardi Matrix December 2020 Monthly Report
Multifamily rents continue to decline, showing a 0.8 percent drop in December on a year-over-year basis. Rents declined $4 to $1,462, dropping 30 basis points from the month before. This marks the largest one-month decline since the beginning of the pandemic, when rents dropped by $5 back in April.
The separation between gateway and lower-cost markets continues to grow, with the Inland Empire and Sacramento sitting at the top of the performance list with rent growths of 7.3 percent and 6.1 percent, respectively. On the other end, San Jose (-13.7 percent) and New York (-11.7 percent) sit at the bottom, where San Jose has been for the last seven consecutive months, falling 14.1 percent since March. However, during 2020, almost half of the top 30 markets finished the year with flat or positive year-over-year rent growth.
Lifestyle rents continued to underperform, declining 2.1 percent year-over-year nationally. Renter-by-Necessity on the other hand continued to increase, showing a jump of 0.6 percent.
—Posted on Jan. 21, 2021
Year-over-year, all asset classes

National average includes 127 markets tracked by Matrix, not just the 30 metros listed above.
Source: Yardi Matrix November 2020 Monthly Report
Multifamily rents declined for the sixth month in a row, declining by 0.5 percent in November year-over-year, according to a Yardi Matrix report of 127 markets. Despite this, more than 100 secondary and tertiary markets are performing better than the national average.
Once again, markets such as the Inland Empire, Sacramento, Phoenix and Indianapolis led the pack in terms of rent growth, increasing 6.6 percent, 5.9 percent, 4.3 percent and 3.9 percent, respectively.
Due to COVID-19, renters are putting a higher priority on space, looking to move into apartments outside the major cities that offer more flexibility, as well as single-family rental options. All gateway markets showed major declines in rent, increasingly more this month than the last:
- Manhattan (-10.2%)
- San Francisco (-8.6%)
- Washington, D.C. (-3.9%)
- Chicago (-3.4%)
- Boston (-3.3%)
- Los Angeles (-2.9%)
Lifestyle assets declined 1.9 percent and continued to trail Renter-by-Necessity at 1.0 percent across the U.S.
In November, about 245,000 jobs were added, below market expectations. However, even with a weak payroll, the unemployment rate declined to 6.7 percent. Jobless claims remained high, with more than 700,000 new unemployment claims filed each week.
—Posted on Dec. 21, 2020
Year-over-year, all asset classes

National average includes 127 markets tracked by Matrix, not just the 30 metros listed above.
Source: Yardi Matrix October 2020 Monthly Report
Multifamily rents remained flat for three months in a row through October, but on a year-over-year basis, rents fell 0.6 percent, according to a Yardi Matrix survey of 127 markets. The pandemic has proven to shift what markets are performing well, with most people moving to secondary and tertiary markets where the cost of living is lower but still provides access to gateway cities.
When it comes to market performance, the Inland Empire and Sacramento performed the best with an increase of 6.0 percent and 5.0 percent, respectively, in year-over-year rent growth. On the other end, San Jose (-10.3 percent), New York (-10.0 percent) and San Francisco (-8.2 percent) were the slowest performing markets on the list.
Lifestyle assets (-2.0 percent) trailed Renter-by-Necessity (1.1 percent) due to the ongoing issue of affordable housing. Short-term rent growth was also flat last month, but some secondary markets witnessed increases month-over-month. However, Orlando, Fla.; Austin; Seattle and Minneapolis all experienced month-over-month declines, in addition to the six gateway markets.
—Posted on Nov. 20, 2020
Year-over-year, all asset classes

National average includes 127 markets tracked by Matrix, not just the 30 metros listed above.
Source: Yardi Matrix September 2020 Monthly Report
The coronavirus pandemic has proven to be quite a challenger against the multifamily market. Since it began to escalate back in March, overall rents have been both up and down by a few dollars each month. For September, multifamily rents decreased by only $1 to $1,463, according to a Yardi Matrix report of 127 markets. Industry experts believed that declines would be much worse than the $8 overall national decline the market has witnessed since February, but that has not been the case.
The largest changes come down to metro performance, where higher-cost cities that have had some of the highest rents have experiences extreme declines. This includes San Jose at -6.6 percent and San Francisco at -5.8 percent. These were the two metros with the largest year-over-year declines by $205 and $136. On the opposite end, the Inland Empire witnessed an increase in year-over-year rents by 3.4 percent ($35) and Sacramento jumped 3.1 percent ($37).
Although there is still uncertainty, the multifamily industry continues to hold up well. Rents decreased only 0.3 percent in September year-over-year, a 10-basis-point decline from the 0.2 percent in August.
—Posted on Oct. 26, 2020
Year-over-year, all asset classes

National average includes 127 markets tracked by Matrix, not just the 30 metros listed above.
Source: Yardi Matrix August 2020 Monthly Report
Multifamily rents have increased this month by $1 to $1,463, marking the second month of growth in a row, according to a Yardi Matrix survey of 127 markets. However, year-over-year rents declined 0.3 percent, showing no difference from the previous month.
When it comes to market performance, 108 performed better than the national average in August, showing that the larger markets, with major rent declines, are the ones pulling down the national average. The best performer was Indianapolis, which showcased a year-over-year rent growth of 3.5 percent.
The Lifestyle asset class continues to be hit the hardest, with 22 of the top 30 markets showing negative rent growth for the month. On the other hand, Renter-by-Necessity has continued to perform well and increased by 1.0 percent nationally. Year-over-year rent growth has declined in 16 of the top 30 markets, with the three highest being San Jose, San Francisco and Boston.
—Posted on Sep. 23, 2020
Year-over-year, all asset classes

National average includes 127 markets tracked by Matrix, not just the 30 metros listed above.
Source: Yardi Matrix July 2020 Monthly Report
Multifamily rents went up $2 in July to $1,460, marking the end of a four month decline. Gateway markets continued their decline year-over-year, including San Jose at -5.0 percent and San Francisco at -4.1 percent. Year-over-year rent growth remained negative nationally at -0.3 percent, unchanged from last month, according to a Yardi Matrix survey of 127 markets.
This is a major change for these metros, which saw increases of 2.0 percent and 2.8 percent, respectively, last year. Millions of Americans are still unemployed and the industry is waiting on the long debated stimulus package that is aimed at providing relief to renters and owners.
Of the top 30 markets, 17 showcased negative rent growth year-over-year. The Renter-by-Necessity class is still holding strong, with national rents rising 1.2 percent in July year-over-year. However, Lifestyle rents fell 1.7 percent nationwide, with the largest declines showing in the gateway and coastal markets.
—Posted on Aug. 21, 2020
Year-over-year, all asset classes

National average includes 127 markets tracked by Matrix, not just the 30 metros listed above.
Source: Yardi Matrix June 2020 Monthly Report
Multifamily rents across the U.S. once again declined, this month dropping $2 to $1,457, according to a Yardi Matrix survey of 127 markets. This trend has continued for the last four months and year-over-year growth turned negative for the first time since 2010, falling to -0.4 percent. This marks a 70-basis-point drop from last month.
Average rent growth has declined by 0.8 percent in the first half of the year, showcasing a big difference from the 2.6 percent increase in the first half of 2019 and 1.2 percent increase in the second quarter of last year. The metros that suffered the most so far due to the pandemic include the West Coast and hub markets, shown by the sharp decline in San Jose of -4.6 percent and San Francisco of -3.8 percent. However, more affordable markets in California such as the Inland Empire and Sacramento have shown a positive performance, with rents rising 2.9 percent and 2.2 percent, respectively.
The year initially started off strong, with a 3.0 percent year-over-year rent growth in January and 2.9 percent in February. However, the crisis has shown that even the strongest of sectors have hit a rough patch, although there are still signs for a strong year ahead.
—Posted on Jul. 22, 2020
Year-over-year, all asset classes

National average includes 127 markets tracked by Matrix, not just the 30 metros listed above.
Source: Yardi Matrix May 2020 Monthly Report
For the month of May, rents increased 0.8 percent on a year-over-year basis. However, according to the latest Yardi Matrix survey of 127 markets, national rent growth continued to decrease, hitting the lowest level on a year-over-year basis since February 2011.
According to the report, “May has historically been a strong month for rent growth, with 3.5 percent year-over-year growth in May 2019 and 2.9 percent in May 2018.” When it comes to year-over-year performance, gateway markets showed the largest decline: Boston and San Francisco (-1.0 percent), Chicago (-0.9 percent) and Los Angeles (-0.7 percent). On the other hand, there were still a handful of markets that continued to perform well, such as Phoenix (3.5 percent), Inland Empire (2.8 percent) and Indianapolis (2.5 percent).
—Posted on Jun. 22, 2020
Year-over-year, all asset classes

National average includes 127 markets tracked by Matrix, not just the 30 metros listed above.
Source: Yardi Matrix April 2020 Monthly Report
National rent growth is beginning to show signs of weakness, with April rent growth increasing only 1.6 percent year-over-year. According to a Yardi Matrix report of 127 markets, national rent growth has reached its lowest point since October 2017. Rents have decreased 0.5 percent month-over-month since March, showing how quickly the coronavirus has impacted the multifamily sector.
Lifestyle rents were hit the hardest, with 10 of the top 30 markets showing year-over-year decreases. Surprisingly, Orlando (-0.4 percent) and San Francisco (-0.2 percent) have shown the greatest declines year-over-year. Of the 30 markets in the report, 27 showed negative rent growth month-over-month, decreasing nationally by 50 basis points.
—Posted on May 26, 2020
Year-over-year, all asset classes

National average includes 127 markets tracked by Matrix, not just the 30 metros listed above.
Source: Yardi Matrix March 2020 Monthly Report
Although March was still a relatively successful month for the multifamily industry, showcasing a $6 rent increased from February, equating to a 2.9 percent jump year-over-year, the ongoing affects of the coronavirus presented the utmost of challenges for the market, which are continuing throughout the year, according to a Yardi Matrix report of 127 markets.
Phoenix once again led the list for market performance with a 7.6 percent rent growth. Following that is Seattle with 6 percent, Inland Empire and Charlotte (4.9 percent), Las Vegas (4.3 percent) and Tampa and Indianapolis (4.1 percent).
—Posted on April 24, 2020
Year-over-year, all asset classes

National average includes 127 markets tracked by Matrix, not just the 30 metros listed above.
Source: Yardi Matrix February 2020 Monthly Report
The novel coronavirus has made a significant impact on the real estate industry. However, despite this ongoing outbreak, rents increased 3.2 percent in February on a year-over-year basis, matching the previous month‘s growth rate, according to a Yardi Matrix survey of 127 markets.
Phoenix once again led the group in terms of market performance, with a 7.6 percent increase in rent growth. Following that was Seattle with 5.5 percent and the Inland Empire at 5 percent. All primary markets besides Washington, D.C. (3.4 percent), fell below the national average last month. Secondary markets in the West continued to grow, but San Francisco and Los Angeles performed the slowest due to affordability issues and rent control.
—Posted on March 27, 2020
Year-over-year, all asset classes

National average includes 127 markets tracked by Matrix, not just the 30 metros listed above.
Source: Yardi Matrix January 2020 Monthly Report
Once again, the average rent dropped in January by $1, to $1,463. This marks the third month in a row to decline, following December’s drop of $1 as well. Despite this, year-over-year rent growth remained at 3 percent, according to a Yardi Matrix survey of 127 markets.
According to the report, month-over-month declines can be attributed to the fluctuating seasons and might continue into the spring months. Occupancy dropped slightly to 94.8 percent but remained within the 95 percent range. Supply deliveries came in above 300,000 units in 2019, but is expected to decline in 2020 as construction loan originations are at a five-year low. This is also in part due to the increased cost of labor and materials.
—Posted on Feb. 28, 2020