Some Big Cities See Shrinking Rents

Even as rents continue to rise nationally, some of the most expensive cities like San Jose, San Francisco, and New York have seen rents fall this year.

1 minute read

October 6, 2016, 11:00 AM PDT

By Casey Brazeal @northandclark


Apartments for rent signage

Taber Andrew Bain / Flickr

Have rents in the most expensive cities in the country finally found their ceiling? An article by Laura Kusisto in the Wall Street Journal reports that at least this year, average rents are declining in San Jose, San Francisco, and New York. "Rents in San Francisco declined 3%, while they fell about 1% in New York and edged lower in Houston and San Jose, Calif., the first drops in those markets since 2010, according to apartment tracker MPF Research. Across the U.S., rent growth was 4.1% on average."

While this report is good news for renters, many believe the days of these cities' sky high rents are coming to a middle. Kusisto says this change in rents will affect new construction. "Few large urban developers have said they are canceling projects in the pipeline, but permits for new projects are down. A slowdown in new construction could help stabilize the market by 2018 or 2019."

Tuesday, October 4, 2016 in The Wall Street Jounal

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