Home sales in the D.C. region may have slowed, but demand for apartment rentals in D.C. is now among the highest in the nation.
RentCafe reports D.C. was one of the most competitive markets for renters in the nation this summer; finding an apartment and applying for a lease does not necessarily mean getting it.
Rising lease renewal rates, a slowdown in new apartment construction and strong demand have contributed to an extremely tight D.C. rental market, as does an influx of new residents looking to rent.
RentCafe’s new Rental Competitiveness Report notes peak summer occupancy at D.C. apartment rentals reached 93.9%. The average amount of time a recently-vacated apartment stayed on the market was 39 days, making D.C. one of the 10 most competitive rental markets this summer.
The competition can be seen in the number of renters applying for available apartment leases. RentCafe said this summer, there were 11 applications for each vacant apartment in D.C.
D.C. experienced a boom in new apartment construction at the beginning of the decade, but construction of new units has now slowed, with only a 0.46% rise in new units added to available rentals this year.
As a result of the tight market, more existing D.C. renters are choosing to renew their current lease. The share of renters staying put instead of searching for a new rental rose to 59.5% this summer, further limiting the number of available apartments on the market.
Chicago and Miami were this summer’s most competitive rental markets, according to RentCafe. Queens and Brooklyn, New York, were rated as increasingly hot markets. Madison, Wisconsin, was the nation’s hottest small rental market.
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