Chat
Chat with Sales Hours: Monday-Friday 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. (CST)
Contact Sales
Call Sales Toll-Free 1-(866) 774-3282 Hours: Monday-Friday 7 a.m. - 5 p.m. (CST)
Product Login
Product Log-in
Product Support
Product Support
Email Sales
Contact Sales
After Hours
  • Support
  • Sign In Sign In
  • AUS NZ UK
CoreLogic - Home
  • Solutions
    view solutions by:

    Data Solutions

    • Lead Generation
    • Property Data
    • Location Intelligence

    Real Estate

    • Multiple Listing Enterprise
    • Agent & Broker

    Mortgage

    • Origination
    • Servicing
    • Appraisal
    • Commercial Property Tax

    Insurance

    • Hazard Risk
    • Catastrophe Risk Management
    • Risk Evaluation
    • Underwriting Automation
    • Weather
    • Claims Automation
    • Restoration
    • INTRCONNECT

    Mortgage Lenders

    • Origination

    Mortgage Servicers

    • Residential Property Tax
    • Default & Loss Mitigation
    • Portfolio Insight & Monitoring

    Mortgage Appraisers

    • Appraisal

    Real Estate Agents & Brokers

    • Agents & Brokers

    Real Estate MLS

    • Multiple Listing Enterprises

    Commercial Real Estate Owners

    • Commercial Property Tax

    Marketing Departments

    • Property Data

    Insurance Underwriters

    • Risk Evaluation
    • Underwriting Automation
    • Hazard Risk
    • Catastrophe Risk Management

    Insurance Risk Managers

    • Risk Evaluation
    • Hazard Risk
    • Catastrophe Risk Management

    Insurance Claims

    • Claims Automation
    • Restoration Contractors
    • Weather Verification

    Construction Contractors

    • Restoration Contractors

    General

    • Location Intelligence
    • Lead Generation
    • Data Solutions
  • Resources

    Reports

    • Climate Change
    • Construction Cost Update
    • Construction Insights
    • Home Price Insights
    • Homeowner Equity Insights
    • Loan Performance Insight
    • Mortgage Fraud
    • Property Tax Delinquency
    • Single-Family Rent Index

    Insight Blogs

    • Hazard HQ
    • Office of Chief Economist
    • Affordable Housing
    • Homebuying
    • Insurance
    • Other Articles

    More Resources

    • Events
    • Case Studies
    • White Papers
    • Podcasts
    • Quick Takes
  • Company
    • About
    • Leadership
    • Newsroom
    • Contact
    • Careers
  • Search
CoreLogic - Home
  • Solutions
  • Resources
  • Company

    • About
    • Leadership
    • Newsroom
    • Contact
    • Careers
  • Accounts

    • Products Sign-in
  • Contact

    • Sales Contact
    • Product Support
  • Regions

    • Australia
    • New Zealand
    • United Kingdom
  • Social

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Linkedin
    • Twitter
    • Youtube
Solutions
VIEW BY:
  • Data Solutions

    • Lead Generation
    • Property Data
    • Location Intelligence
  • Real Estate

    • Multiple Listing Enterprise
    • Agent & Broker
  • Mortgage

    • Origination
    • Servicing
    • Appraisal
    • Commercial Property Tax
  • Insurance

    • Hazard Risk
    • Catastrophe Risk Management
    • Risk Evaluation
    • Underwriting Automation
    • Weather
    • Claims Automation
    • Restoration
    • INTRCONNECT
  • Mortgage Lenders

    • Origination
  • Mortgage Servicers

    • Residential Property Tax
    • Default & Loss Mitigation
    • Portfolio Insight & Monitoring
  • Mortgage Appraisers

    • Appraisal
  • Real Estate Agents & Brokers

    • Agents & Brokers
  • Real Estate MLS

    • Multiple Listing Enterprises
  • Commercial Real Estate Owners

    • Commercial Property Tax
  • Marketing Departments

    • Property Data
  • Insurance Underwriters

    • Risk Evaluation
    • Underwriting Automation
    • Hazard Risk
    • Catastrophe Risk Management
  • Insurance Risk Managers

    • Risk Evaluation
    • Hazard Risk
    • Catastrophe Risk Management
  • Insurance Claims

    • Claims Automation
    • Restoration Contractors
    • Weather Verification
  • Construction Contractors

    • Restoration Contractors
  • General

    • Location Intelligence
    • Lead Generation
    • Data Solutions
Resources
  • Reports

    • Climate Change
    • Construction Cost Update
    • Construction Insights
    • Home Price Insights
    • Homeowner Equity Insights
    • Loan Performance Insight
    • Mortgage Fraud
    • Property Tax Delinquency
    • Single-Family Rent Index
  • Insight Blogs

    • Hazard HQ
    • Office of Chief Economist
    • Affordable Housing
    • Homebuying
    • Insurance
    • Other Articles
  • More Resources

    • Events
    • Case Studies
    • White Papers
    • Podcasts
    • Quick Takes

Home / Intelligence / Inaccessibility in For-Sale Housing Pushes Up Demand for Single-Family Rentals

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Molly Boesel
Molly Boesel
Principal, Economist, Office of the Chief Economist
View Profile
  • June 15, 2021

Inaccessibility in For-Sale Housing Pushes Up Demand for Single-Family Rentals

U.S. Single-Family Rents Up 5.3% Year Over Year in April

  • Single-family rents increased at the fastest rate in nearly 15 years in April.
  • Rent growth of detached properties was more than three times rent growth of attached properties.

Overall Single-Family Rent Growth

U.S. single-family rent growth increased 5.3% in April 2021, the fastest increase since May 2006, according to the CoreLogic Single-Family Rent Index (SFRI). The index slowed in 2020, but even when compared with 2019, rent growth is running above pre-pandemic levels. The index measures rent changes among single-family rental homes, including condominiums, using a repeat-rent analysis to measure the same rental properties over time.

Single-Family Rent Growth by Price Tier

An uneven U.S. job recovery, sometimes called a “K-shaped” recovery, is reflected in the rent price growth of the low- and high-price rent tiers. The low-price tier is defined as properties with rent prices less than 75% of the regional median, and the high-price tier is defined as properties with rent prices greater than 125% of a region’s median rent (Figure 1).

While rent growth exceeded pre-pandemic rates across all price tiers, including low-end rentals for the first time, rent growth for lower-priced properties lagged behind that of higher-priced properties. Rent prices for the low-end tier increased 3.9% year over year in April 2021, up from 3.2% in April 2020. Meanwhile, higher-priced rentals increased 6.1% in April 2021, up from a gain of 2.2% in April 2020. This was the fastest increase in higher-price rents since May 2006.

Figure 1: National Single-Family Rent Index Year-Over-Year Percent Change By Price Tier

Single-Family Rent Growth by Property Type

Differences in rent growth by property type emerged after the pandemic as renters sought out standalone properties in lower density areas (Figure 2).  The detached property type tier is defined as properties with a free-standing residential building, and the attached property type tier is defined as a single-family dwelling that is attached to other single-family dwellings, which includes duplexes, triplexes, quadplexes, townhouses, row-houses, condos and co-ops.

As demand for more space and outdoor amenities remains, detached rentals in particular are experiencing accelerated growth with a 7.9% year-over-year increase in April, compared to growth of 2.2% annually for attached rentals.

Figure 2: Rent Growth by Property Type Diverged in 2020

Metro-Level Results

Figure 3 shows the year-over-year change in the rental index for 20 large metropolitan areas in April 2021. Among the 20 metro areas shown, Phoenix stood out with the highest year-over-year rent growth in April as it has for most of the last three years, with an increase of 12.2%, followed by Tucson, Arizona (+10.6%) and Las Vegas, Nevada (+9.3%). Two metro areas experienced annual declines in rent prices: Boston (-5.9%) and Chicago (-2.6%).

Figure 3: Single-Family Rent Index Year-Over-Year Percent Change in 20 Markets

Boston and Chicago were also the only 2 of the 20 metros shown in Figure 3 to have lower rent growth than a year ago with Boston showing a deceleration of 7.5 percentage points and Chicago showing a deceleration of 4 percentage points from April 2020.The slowdown in Boston rent growth might be attributed to college students choosing not to return to Boston, but instead opting to continue virtual learning elsewhere. For Chicago, there were large differences in rents of attached versus detached properties. While rent prices of detached rentals in Chicago increased by 5.6%, attached rentals experienced a decrease of 4.1%.

While rent growth dipped significantly last April at the start of the pandemic, rising affordability issues and supply shortages in the for-sale housing market and ongoing demographic pressure from aging millennials have continued to place upward pressure on the single-family rental market — leading to the largest annual rent price increase in nearly 15 years in April 2021. These factors will persist in the near term, leading to strong rent growth this year.

©2021 Corelogic, Inc. , All rights reserved.

  • Category: Intelligence, Reports, Single Family Rent Index
  • Tags: Single-Family Rentals
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Molly Boesel
Molly Boesel
Principal, Economist, Office of the Chief Economist
View Profile

Related Posts

mississippi tornadoes
Blogs

March 24 EF-4 Tornado in Mississippi

CoreLogic estimates over 4,100 homes were within the path of the tornado that hit Mississippi on March 24, 2023.

March 29, 2023
California Atmospheric Rivers
Core Conversations

What Was it Really Like to Live Through the California Floods? Our Team Spills | Part 2

In Part 2, host Maiclaire Bolton Smith talks about the atmospheric rivers and the snow that has made headlines and headway in altering California’s natural hazard landscape.

March 29, 2023
CSI_Promo_Mar2023
Blogs

US CoreLogic S&P Case-Shiller Index Gain Slows to Pre-Pandemic Low, Up by 3.8% Year Over Year in January

The index continued to decline year over year in January, again posting a single-digit gain.

March 28, 2023

About Corelogic

  • Newsroom
  • Leadership
  • Careers
  • Ethics & Compliance

Accounts

  • Products Sign-in

Contact

  • Sales Contact
  • Product Support

Regions

  • CoreLogic Australia
  • CoreLogic New Zealand
  • CoreLogic UK

Follow & Connect

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
© 2023 CoreLogic. All rights reserved.
  • Legal
  • Privacy Policy
  • CCPA
  • Cookie Preferences
  • Security
  • Sitemap
  • Accessibility
  • Legal
  • Privacy Policy
  • CCPA
  • Cookie Preferences
  • Security
  • Sitemap
  • Accessibility