Rent and Operating Trends – Week of September 17th 2023

Key Takeaways – Data as of 09/17/2023

Traffic and Leases:

• Traffic has dropped off quickly in recent weeks after staying around 8.5 tours per property for much of the summer. As of last week, the average property nationwide had 7.6 tours.
• Leasing has also fallen, with the average property signing 2.5 new leases per week.
• Charlotte, a market already facing significant new supply pressure, saw the largest weekly decline in traffic last week. The North Carolina metro still averages nearly a tour greater than the national average, but traffic is down on both a week-over-week and year-over-year basis.
• Leasing activity fell the most in Chicago. One of the best performing markets for the first half of 2023, Chicago’s apartment market has retreated, in line with other peer markets in recent weeks.

Occupancy and ATR:

• Nationwide occupancy fell another three basis points last week, and the national occupancy rate is 94.21%.
• Markets with high supply, especially in the southeast and southwest have average occupancy well below 94%.
• Atlanta currently maintains the lowest occupancy in the nation with an average occupancy rate of 92.91%. Demand in Atlanta remains steady, as average traffic is more than 1.5 tours per week greater than the national average. Yet all the new supply in both urban and suburban Atlanta has put a significant strain on occupancy.

Net Effective Rent:

• Net effective rents fell 10 basis points last week. The national average net effective rent is $1,870.
• Austin rents fell 40 basis points last week, leading the nation in rent declines. The Central Texas MSA has seen net effective rents fall 6.4% over the past year. When adding in the effects of occupancy decline, the average revenue per available unit in Austin has fallen 7.6% in the last 12 months.