Exploring 2024's Rental Market Trends

In 2023, the rental market experienced a notable cooldown, marked by a 1.1% year-over-year decline in national median rent. This shift resulted from weakened demand due to higher housing costs and economic concerns, coupled with a historic surge in multifamily construction, increasing supply. Looking ahead this year, the Apartment List Economics Team predicts seven key trends, including a surge in new apartment construction - anticipating one million multifamily units under construction for the first time in history, and low single-digit rent growth due to a modest rebound in demand that may not outstrip the significant new supply.

Other predictions involve the changing dynamics between renting and homeownership, with systemic barriers supporting rental demand; the cementation of hybrid work arrangements as a new norm, impacting renter preferences for spaces blending work and home life; expectations of Sun Belt markets seeing more renters but not necessarily higher rents due to ongoing population growth and new housing development; the prominence of housing concerns in the presidential election - where candidates must address economic sentiment influenced by housing affordability; and building on the mainstream use of generative AI in 2023, new AI-powered tools becoming commonplace for renters in their apartment searches in 2024.

Read the full report here to gain further insight into potential challenges and opportunities for both renters and property managers in 2024.