Rent and Operating Trends Week of May 20th 2020

Radix

Radix

Radix Blog Posts 3

Share This Post

Up from the Pandemic Low: Leading Indicators Show More WoW Improvement

 

While coronavirus lockdowns are not over yet, as of May 20, all 50 states were starting to re-open to some degree, according to The Wall Street Journal. The East and West Coasts are re-opening more gradually.

 

As I mentioned in my last blog, the openings were already having a positive impact on our industry. During the week ending on May 20, all the major national performance metrics except for Net Effective Rent (NER) moved in the right direction on a week-over-week basis, according to Radix. That marked the first time that has happened since the pandemic began.

 

We seem to have bottomed out as far as declines in occupancy and leased percentage rates, and traffic and leases are gaining ground as well. NER, while still declining, experienced a smaller dip than it did during the preceding week.

 

If traffic and leases continue to improve, the impetus for rapid rent discounts and concessions might slow down as well.

 

Here are the notable takeaways from the week ending on May 20:

 

  • Nationally, traffic and leases were up 13.8% and 13.3%, respectively, WoW. Those figures represent an accelerating improvement (during the week ending on May 13, the metrics increased by 8.7% and 6.6% WoW). On a year-over-year basis, leases were down only 11.6%, which is a major improvement from earlier in the pandemic, especially when considering these gains were made almost entirely while a majority of the markets were still in lockdown. Traffic was down 35.8 percent YoY.

 

  • The national occupancy (92.90%) and leased percentage (94.56%) rates were up WoW for the first time since April 1. YoY, we are still behind in both metrics, but should this positive weekly trend continue, we will see the gap close on YoY numbers as well.

 

  • As for national net effective rent, that came in at $1,762 in the week of May 20. That was down 0.8% from the preceding week (the WoW drop was 1.1% during the week of May 13). The YoY decline was 0.9% (the YoY drop was 0.8% during the week of May 13).

 

In terms of the 21 metropolitan statistical areas tracked by Radix, leased percentage rates were up WoW in all MSAs, except for Houston, Riverside, Calif., and San Francisco, with the largest increase occurring in Charlotte (62 basis points). Occupancy rates were a bit more mixed, with just over half the MSAs showing positive WoW growth, and Charlotte leading again with a 55-basis-point gain. Three MSAs are still ahead in YoY net effective rent: Charlotte, Dallas and Phoenix.

Radix Research

Radix Research provides the most granular, timely, and leading data in the multifamily sector for asset managers, acquisitions, and development analysts, regional operators, and corporate-level owners. To retrieve this data, request a demo today.

About the author

More To Explore

RAOT Blog Thumbnail Week of November th
Research

Rent and Operating Trends – Week of November 26th 2023

It was a fairly quiet week in the U.S. economy as the Thanksgiving holiday limited data releases last week. Existing trends continued from the prior week as the 10-year treasury continued to drift lower. The yield on the 10-year is now 4.42%, nearly 60 basis points below its recent peak in mid-October.

Chart of the Week Blog November th
Research

Chart of The Week – November 27th 2023

This week we examine the top and bottom performing markets on a net effective rent basis. We have talked a lot about the markets that are both outperforming and underperforming in the previous charts of the week and rent and operating trends report, yet a key distinction that continues to hold true is the severity of the declines in the worst performing markets compared to the modest gains in the best performing markets.

Rent and Operating
Discover weekly multifamily industry insights! Subscribe below to the Rent and Operating Trends Report newsletter.