Rents Are Rising 4 Times Faster Than in 2020

U.S. Single-Family Rents Up 12.6% Year Over Year in January

Overall Single-Family Rent Growth

U.S. single-family rent growth increased 12.6% in January 2022, the fastest year-over-year increase in over 17 years[1], according to the CoreLogic Single-Family Rent Index (SFRI). January marked the 10th consecutive month of record-level rent growth. The index measures rent changes among single-family rental homes, including condominiums, using a repeat-rent analysis to measure the same rental properties over time. Annual rent growth in January 2022 was more than triple the gain recorded in January 2021 and more than quadruple the increase from January 2020.

Single-Family Rent Growth by Price Tier

Rent growth continued at a rapid pace for all price tiers in January. The low-price tier is defined as properties with rent prices less than 75% of the region’s median rent, and the high-price tier is defined as properties with rent prices greater than 125% of a region’s median rent (Figure 1).

Rent prices for the low-price tier increased 12% year over year in January 2022, up from 3% in January 2021. Meanwhile, high-price rentals increased 12.2% in January 2022, up from a gain of 4.5% in January 2021. This was the fastest increase in the history of the SFRI for both the low- and high-price rent tiers.

In January, U.S. single-family home rent growth hit its 10th consecutive record. Rents increased across the country, with Sun Belt cities once again registering the largest gains. The robust price growth was partially due to a continuing shortage of available rental properties. Also, the cost of purchasing a home rose by 19% on an annual basis in January, shutting out many would-be homeowners and forcing them to keep renting.

[1] The Single-Family Rent Index series begins in January 2004 and the year-over-year growth rate begins in January 2005.

[2] The detached property type tier is defined as properties with a free-standing residential building, and the attached property type tier is defined as a single-family dwelling that is attached to other single-family dwellings, which includes duplexes, triplexes, quadplexes, townhouses, row-houses, condos and co-ops.