Rent and Operating Week of August 15th 2021

During this reporting period, there has been very minimal movement recorded in the leading metrics, although national NER did post another sizeable gain. National rental markets seem to be holding even as Delta strain increases around the nation. These factors present the biggest threat to national rental rates since the start of the surge late this last winter. Stay tuned over the coming weeks as we report on these factors.

Key Takeaways – Data as 8/15:

• Traffic and Leases: National traffic and lease rates remained stable this week at 8.7 visitors per week and 2.7 signed leases per week, respectively.
• San Jose, down 5% this week, is still the most trafficked rental market in the country at 11.9 visitors per week. The week of June 6th, the market was recording rates of 17.1 visitors per week, experiencing a drop of 31% over the last two months.
• Houston is the top market for leases, adding 3.3 executed agreements a week.
• Occupancy and Leased Percentage: National occupancy rates ticked up 10 basis points to 96.1%, nearly recovering all ground lost last week, while the national leased rate remained fixed at 97.5%.
• Los Angeles experienced the most growth in both metrics, bumping up 40 bps in occupancy to 95.8%, and 60 bps in the leased rate to 97.7%.
• Net Effective Rent: Net effective rent is up 60 bps this week, rising to $1,857. Notably, every single metro experienced positive growth, save for Washington, D.C. and Dallas, which experienced no change.
• Seattle is the top mover this week, climbing 3.1%, followed by San Francisco with 2.6% growth. This represents a notable bump for the nation’s top tech markets, whose employers have finally, albeit slowly, started recalling employees back to the office.
• Month-over-month, these two markets only trail Tampa, with 5.7% growth.