After April Slowdown, Axiometrics Reports Rent Growth Increases for Second Consecutive Month


DALLAS, TX--(Marketwired - July 19, 2013) -  Axiometrics Inc., the leading provider of apartment data and research, reports that national effective rent growth increased for the second consecutive month in June after a slowdown in April. For the month, annual effective rent growth measured 3.51%, while the occupancy rate held steady at 94.8%. The return to slow, steady growth in rents occurred despite the approximately 70,000 new units that have been delivered nationally this year.

"While the growth rate for effective rents increased the past two months, it has still slowed in ten of the last 13 months as many markets were moderating from extremely strong rent growth the previous three years," said Ron Johnsey, founder and president of Axiometrics. "Despite the ongoing slowdown, the current effective rent growth rate is still above the long-term average rate of 2.1%. The question is whether accelerating deliveries of new units will take the growth down further toward this long-term average."

Effective Rent Growth and Occupancy
Nationally, annual effective rent growth increased from 3.33% in May to 3.51% in June. This compares to Axiometrics' reported rate of 3.85% in June 2012 and the peak growth rate of 5.32% in June 2011. Fifteen of the top 88 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) had an average annual growth rate greater than 5.0% in June. Oakland ranked first with an annual growth rate of 10.9%. Other notable MSAs with high growth rates included: Boulder (9.6%), San Francisco (7.5%), San Jose (6.6%), Houston (6.1%), and Austin (5.1%). 

In May, Washington, D.C. was the lowest ranked MSA for rent growth. This month, at -0.03%, it is still near the bottom along with eight other MSAs with a negative annual growth rate, including: Hartford (-0.07%), Albuquerque (-0.13%), Greensboro (-0.34%), and Chattanooga (-2.47%).

The occupancy rate was steady at 94.8% during May and June, just slightly above Axiometrics' forecasted rate of 94.7%. Though there was no sequential growth in the occupancy rate between May and June, the rate for June was 0.41% higher than in June 2012, and 0.70% higher than in June 2011. Axiometrics, which forecasts occupancy to top out at 94.9% by the end of 2013, also reported that currently 44 of the top 88 MSAs have an average occupancy rate greater than 95.0%.

The following table lists a selection of the top and bottom performing MSAs across the country:

 
Top and Bottom Performing MSAs
 Rank* MSA Annual Effective Rent Growth Occupancy Rate Revenue Growth
Jun-12 Jun-13 Jun-12 Jun-13 Jun-12 Jun-13
  1 Oakland, CA 5.3% 10.9% 96.1% 96.5% 4.9% 11.2%
  2 Fort Meyers, FL 3.0% 10.0% 93.7% 94.4% 4.4% 10.6%
  3 Boulder, CO 7.2% 9.6% 94.7% 95.2% 6.5% 9.5%
  6 Seattle, WA 4.5% 7.5% 95.4% 96.3% 4.2% 8.4%
  7 Denver, CO 7.0% 7.4% 95.2% 95.8% 7.1% 8.0%
  9 Sarasota, FL 7.0% 7.4% 95.8% 96.3% 6.0% 7.5%
  10 San Francisco, CA 13.5% 7.5% 95.9% 95.9% 12.8% 7.4%
  11 Houston, TX 6.2% 6.1% 93.2% 94.5% 7.9% 7.2%
  19 Detroit, MI 1.8% 3.2% 92.4% 94.9% -0.2% 5.4%
  20 Atlanta, GA 3.3% 4.3% 92.0% 93.1% 3.4% 5.3%
  National 3.9% 3.5% 94.4% 94.8% 4.1% 3.8%
  56 Fort Lauderdale, FL 4.2% 2.4% 94.7% 95.0% 4.3% 2.7%
  66 Oklahoma City, OK 4.3% 2.7% 95.2% 94.5% 5.3% 1.9%
  74 Philadelphia, PA 2.2% 1.0% 95.5% 94.8% 2.4% 0.9%
  84 Washington, DC 3.2% -0.03% 95.7% 95.2% 3.1% -0.1%
*Rank is based on annual revenue growth in June 2013. Only the top 88 MSAs were used for the ranking. Axio tracks properties in more than 400 MSAs around the country.
Source: Axiometrics Inc.
 

About Axiometrics
Axiometrics is the only multifamily research provider to survey every property in its database at the floor plan level every month. Every property. Every month. Only Axiometrics. Learn more at www.axiometrics.com or by calling 214-953-2242. 

Contact Information:

Contact:
Ross Coulter
214-394-5538
ross@mpdventures.com