Read the latest Yardi Matrix National Multifamily Market Report.
Rent growth remains at 1.0% year-over-year in March, according to Yardi Matrix’s latest national multifamily market report.
Report highlights:
- The average U.S. advertised asking rent gained $5 to $1,755 in March, up 1.0% year-over-year.
- Rent growth in the Lifestyle segment outperformed Renter-by-Necessity on a monthly basis.
- The measures presumed by the second Trump administration maintain a high level of uncertainty within the multifamily industry.
- The SFR-BTR market posted healthy fundamentals, albeit dwindling rent increases.
Multifamily advertised asking rents register gains
U.S. advertised asking rents rose by $5 to $1,755 in March, for a 1.0% year-over-year increase, up by 0.4% over the first quarter of the year. Leaders in rent growth remained New York City (5.5%), Chicago and Kansas City (both 3.7%), Columbus (3.5%) and Philadelphia (3.2%). High-supply markets continued to lag in rent growth, with the largest declines posted by Austin (-5.4%), Denver (-3.6%), Denver (-3.6%), Phoenix (-3.0%), Dallas (-1.7%) and Atlanta (-1.6%).
On a monthly basis, national advertised asking rents rose 0.3% in March, up by 0.3% in Lifestyle and by 0.2% in Renter-by-Necessity. Strong rent growth was recorded in Charlotte (0.8% overall, 0.9% in Lifestyle and 0.4% in RBN) and Seattle (0.8% overall, 1.1% in Lifestyle and 0.3% in RBN), with the top five rounded out by Chicago (0.9%), Boston and Philadelphia (both 0.7%). Six of Yardi Matrix’s top 30 metros posted rent decline, with the weakest rent performance posted by Phoenix, Miami and Austin (all down 0.5%).
The U.S. occupancy rate stood at 94.5% in February, unchanged year-over-year for the third consecutive month. The rate rose in eight of the top 30 metros, including San Francisco (0.3%) Los Angeles (0.2%), Portland and San Diego (both 0.1%).
Multifamily’s path under the new administration
The second Trump administration points to opportunities and challenges for the multifamily market. Opportunities include the construction of housing projects on 500 million acres of federally owned land. HUD and the Interior Department officials will create a joint task force to identify land suitable for residential development and speed up building by reducing environmental and other reviews that frequently lead to construction delays. Another opportunity is the renewal of the Opportunity Zones program, which is slated to expire at the end of 2026. Concerns stem from new policies that could cut programs designed to help build affordable housing, as well as the proposed privatization of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which account for more than 40% of multifamily loans. Additional concerns arise from heightened economic volatility due to the imposition of tariffs, the rising number of layoffs and falling consumer confidence. U.S. population forecasts dropped to less than 1.5 million residents in 2025, the lowest level in decades excluding 2020.
Single-family build-to-rent advertised asking rents rose $5 to $2,169, flat year-over-year. Rent gains were registered only in the RBN segment, up 2.3% year-over-year. Overall, rents have been on a decelerating trend since the 15% year-over-year peak recorded in February 2022. SFR rent growth was strongest in the Midwest, which held more than half of the top 10 metros for rent growth in March, including Kansas City (5.4%), South Dakota (5.1%), Detroit (4.9%), Columbus (4.5%), the Twin Cities (3.4%) and Chicago (2.7%).
Read the full Yardi Matrix Multifamily National Market Report: March 2025.
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