While demand is up 9.2 percent year-over-year, this figure is down from 11.4 percent at the end of the first quarter, according to CoStar Group in its findings from its second quarter report on rent growth in the United States.
These findings mark a continued downward trend in rent growth, with this now being the third quarter in a row of diminishing demand. The report also found that the vacancy rate is up 10 basis points, rising to 5 percent nationally.
“Rent growth moderation in the second quarter is directly tied to the lackluster demand that we have seen over the past 90 days,” said Jay Lybik, national director of multifamily analytics, CoStar Group. “Combine the fact that rent prices continue to sit at all-time highs with tempered consumer demand and a record 450,000 units expected to be delivered by year's end, and you have a perfect recipe for a sharp rise in vacancy rates in the next six months.”
Growth in Sunbelt and South also slows, b