{"id":28679,"date":"2015-06-04T03:42:19","date_gmt":"2015-06-04T10:42:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rentcafe.com\/blog\/?p=28679"},"modified":"2016-08-16T23:55:58","modified_gmt":"2016-08-17T06:55:58","slug":"apartment-rents-hit-record-high-in-may","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rentcafe.com\/blog\/rental-market\/apartment-rents-hit-record-high-in-may\/","title":{"rendered":"Apartment Rents Hit Record High in May, with West and South Metros in the Forefront"},"content":{"rendered":"

The U.S. rental market is on fire, with low vacancies, solid absorption, and increased construction activity recorded in most metros around the country. Some may even call it a landlord\u2019s market, as tight availability and rent growth have become recurring themes of the leasing sector.<\/p>\n

Average rents rose to a record high of $1,136 in May<\/strong>, up 0.8% month-over-month and 2.3% over the past three months, according to the latest Yardi Matrix Monthly<\/a> report. The average year-over-year rent growth now stands at 6.1%, pointing to a stronger year than previously anticipated. Even at an annual increase of 4.9%, which is the projected rent growth for 2015, recent years still give us a growth rate faster than anything the rental market has seen for a while.<\/p>\n

Rental Market Red Hot in Western and Southern Markets<\/h3>\n

Overall, the biggest rental increases among the 61 largest metro areas that Matrix surveyed are generally in the western and southern parts of the country. Here are some key takeaways, as noted by the Matrix report:<\/p>\n