Leasing (Research Center)

Rents were up 1.5% nationwide in May, down 40 basis points from April, 90 basis points from March and well below the 5.3% growth rate of a year ago. Deceleration is more than firmly established, as the year-over-year growth rate has decreased for 13 straight months since reaching 5.4% in April 2016. The last time the year-over-year increase was as low as 1.5% was in April 2011.

Rents were up 2.0% nationwide in April, down 50 basis points from March and well below the 5.5% growth rate of a year ago. The 2.0% year-over-year increase is the lowest it’s been since April 2011, when rents were up only 1.5%.

Rents were up 2.7% nationwide in March, down 10 basis points from February and exactly half the 5.4% growth rate of a year ago.

Rents were up 2.8% nationwide in February, down 40 basis points from January and roughly half the 5.5% growth rate of a year ago.

Rents were up 4.6% nationwide in January, a 30-basis-point increase from December, though still 240 basis points below the recent high of 7.0% in January 2016.

Rents grew 4.0% nationwide in December, a 30-basis-point decline from November and a 270-basis-point drop from the recent high of 6.7% in October 2015.