The economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to influence rent prices across the country.
California is seeing rents decrease in several areas. According to RealPage, operators in Los Angeles cut rents by 3.3% in May 2020 compared to May 2019. Oakland, California saw an annual loss in effective asking rents of about 3% in May. Bigger cuts were seen in San Jose at 4.4% and in San Francisco at 4.9%, RealPage said.
In New York, where housing courts recently opened and evictions can resume, the Rent Guidelines Board voted to approve a rent freeze on one-year leases, according to Curbed New York. For two-year leases, there is a freeze in the first year and a 1% increase in the second year.
As of June 13, the National Multifamily Housing Council said that 89% of renters in professionally managed apartments had paid rent across the U.S.
Of those who paid rent, 84% of the residents living in lower-priced Class C properties paid rent in total, compared to the collection rates of 90.3% to 90.4% in luxury Class A projects and middle-market Class B communities, RealPage said.
Asking prices have also dropped. For the first time since the middle of 2010, there’s a decline of 0.5% in effective asking rents between May 2019 and May 2020.
Executed new lease rent has dropped at least 8%, which is double the norm in the U.S., in Boston, Detroit, New York, Salt Lake City, San Francisco and San Jose, California.
In San Francisco, one-bedroom rents have dropped 9.2% since June 2019, according to SFGate. Boston has felt the impact from universities and colleges being out, as about 65,000 students live off-campus, the Boston Globe said, and rent is down 2%.
