Columbus Maintains Stable Rent Growth
Although employment growth moderated in 2018 while multifamily development kept a steady pace, the Columbus rental market remains one of the Midwest’s top performers.
Columbus rent evolution, click to enlarge
Although employment growth tempered in 2018 while multifamily development kept a steady pace, the Columbus rental market remains one of the Midwest’s top performers. With rents up 3.4 percent year-over-year as of October, the city outpaced all other major Ohio metros. Meanwhile, occupancy in stabilized properties dropped just 20 basis points year-over-year, to 95.8 percent as of September.
Columbus gained 15,200 jobs in the 12 months ending in September, with trade, transportation and utilities leading growth. Due to its integrated approach to economic development, ongoing public-private partnerships, key logistics hub status, steady stream of college graduates and relatively low costs of living and doing business, the metro remains a stable capital magnet.
Roughly 3,000 units came online in the first 10 months of 2018, with another 7,500 apartments underway as of October. Downtown remains the prime development epicenter, while communities in northern suburbs within the beltway attracted the lion’s share of capital. With above-trend population gains and the steady addition of jobs across the board likely to linger, Columbus rent growth is bound to remain close to the U.S. average, at least in the short term.
