Twenty-nine of the top 30 cities with the highest rent increases in March were in small cities, led by Odessa and Midland, Texas, where rent prices are bouncing back after the most recent drop in oil prices.
As indicated by the latest data available, origination volume was up 8 percent year over year in 2016, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Nearly 3,000 different lenders provided a total of $269.2 billion in new mortgages for apartment buildings with five or more units.
Despite the slight drop in overall rents, the year-over-year rate of growth increased to 2.5% nationwide in November, up 10 basis points over October. Overall rents are now $4 off their all-time high of $1,362, which was achieved in September.
The national deceleration on a year-over-year basis continued, with rents up 2.3% nationwide in October, a 30 basis-point decline from September. Rent growth in Houston is up 0.8% year-over-year through October, a 100-basis point improvement over -0.2% in September and the metro’s first positive month since July 2016. Upward of 45,000 apartment units and 100,000 housing units went out of commission as a result of Harvey.
U.S. monthly rents were flat in September, remaining at $1,354, yet they continue to decelerate on a year-over-year basis. Rents were up 2.2% nationwide in September, a 10-basis-point decline from August. After a strong first half, in which average rents grew by $33, they experienced a summer slowdown, increasing by only $1 in the third quarter.
