When renters are faced with rental price increases, as they are now, it’s typical for them to look for a cheaper place to rent. They don’t always find one, of course. But with the current inventory, it’s riskier to even look for one than to simply accept renewing their lease at a higher rent value.
Between April 2021 and April 2022, the share of renters renting at market value who chose to renew their lease increased from 53% to 57%. This is despite an 11% increase in rent prices during the same period. The problem is that there simply isn’t anywhere more suitable to go, partly because of low construction rates. Without renter movement, the number and type of vacant units doesn’t change very much, which further stagnates the market because what few vacancies exist are already deemed to be undesirable.
Photo by Dimitri Karastelev on Unsplash