Growth in national, local apartment rents reported

U.S. apartment rents grew 3.3 percent during the fourth quarter of 2018, according to a recent study.

 The national growth rate in 2018 outpaced 2017 by 2.5 percent, thanks to strong demand for apartment space that pushed occupancy to 95.4 percent, Real Page Inc., a real estate technology and analytics firm in Richardson, Texas reported.

Occupancy climbed by 323,290 units in 2018, the highest growth rate since 2010, while 287,000 units were completed during the year.

“The country is gaining lots of additional renters,” RealPage chief economist Greg Willett said in a statement. “Job production is fueling household formation among younger adults who tend to rent, and loss of existing renters to purchase is running at levels below the historical norm.”

In the Inland Empire, apartment rents rose 4.4 percent year-over-year at the end of last year, the seventh-largest growth rate among major submarkets. Las Vegas and Phoenix tied for first with growth rates of 7.4 percent.

Construction remains aggressive, with nearly 320,000 apartment units scheduled to be completed this year. However, delivery delays caused by labor shortages could drive that estate down, Real Page reported.