So what explains all these?
1. The number of occupied U.S. rental-apartment units jumped by about half a million in the second quarter, the biggest annual increase in data going back to 1993, according to industry consultant RealPage Inc. Occupancy last month hit a new high of 96.9%.
2. Eviction bans also are playing a role in keeping the market tight, because about 6% of tenants are normally forced to vacate each year.
3. Renters now crowding the market have higher salaries, in part, because many of them, in normal times, would be buying homes instead. The average income for new lease signers in July hit a record of $69,252, according to RealPage, which captured data for professionally managed buildings. Year-to-date, their incomes shot up 7.5%.
4. Nicolle Crim, vice president of Watson Property Management’s Central Florida division, says she wished she had more to offer. But the for-sale market is so strong that owners are selling for big profits. As a result, Watson now manages about 4,000 single-family home rentals for individual owners, down by a third since the pandemic began, she said.
All these points to there’re less supplies for rental (landlord selling, eviction ban), which drives up the occupancy and qualified income to rent.
So all the suppliers go to new home ownership, despite record price increase? Then why would the article says “Renters now crowding the market have higher salaries, in part, because many of them, in normal times, would be buying homes instead.” How come we suddenly have so many eligible home buyers?
