Market update July 2024: Price cap threatens rent growth?

Rent prices are continuing to climb from last month, but will President Biden's national rent control proposal put a brake on this momentum?

• The national median list price continued to increase seasonally from $440,000 in May to $445,000 in June, according to Realtor.com.

• The number of newly listed homes decreased slightly month over month, going from 432,140 in May to 421,020 in June. The site also reports a 6.3% increase year over year.

• Zumper reports the national median rent for one-bedrooms rose 1.5% this June to $1,526, while two-bedrooms increased 1.9% to $1,900.

• “We may have finally returned to the first normal renting season since 2019,” says Zumper CEO Anthemos Georgiades. “Following a soft winter, last month our national index recorded the highest monthly gains since the Fall of 2022 and rent growth has begun to accelerate into summer.”

• 57 of Zumper’s top 100 cities saw an increase in rental prices from the previous month, while 28 fell and 15 reported no change.

• Despite adding about 66k new rental units by the end of Q1 2024, Florida saw minimal rent declines in Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville, and Miami, demonstrating just how high demand for rentals is in the Sunshine State.

• Property managers may not be able to capitalize on this demand for long – President Biden has proposed a national 5% cap on annual rent hikes. This cap price would apply only to landlords with 50 or more units and not to units yet to be built. However, it's unlikely Congress will pass such a proposal this close to the presidential election.

• National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Chairman Carl Harris has come out against the proposal, saying, “Rent control in any form... will worsen the housing affordability crisis by discouraging developers from building new rental housing units.”

• Harris says this as builder confidence in the market for single-family homes dipped one point to 42 in July. Many buyers and builders are holding out for lower interest rates, according to the NAHB. It remains to be seen how Biden’s proposal will affect builder confidence next month.

• Single‐family housing starts in June reached 980,000 – 2.2% below the revised May figure of 1,002,000.

More rental market headlines

The death of the hallway (and other design trends) -- John Burns Research & Consulting

Parents are paying for Gen Z to rent in expensive cities – Fortune

Pandemic rent hikes still working through economy, keeping inflation high – Axios