Rental market competitiveness has slowed and shifted regionally over the last year, but the Garden State can still be a tough place to find a place to live.
RentCafe recently released its latest study of America’s hottest rental markets. They analyzed Yardi data across 139 of the largest U.S. markets and considered how many renters competed for each available apartment, how many renters decided to renew and stay put, how long it took for an apartment to fill, the share of apartments that were occupied, and the share of apartments that were newly built.
Apartment hunting did get slightly easier in both North and Central Jersey this peak rental season, but competition remains strong. North Jersey ranked 18th nationwide on RentCafe’s study, ahead of regional competition Queens (22nd) and Brooklyn (26th).
Each available apartment in North Jersey attracts 10 renters, down from 11 last summer. That statistic is essentially the same level of competition per vacancy as Brooklyn and just one fewer renter than in Queens.
Central Jersey offers apartment hunters more breathing room, with 8 renters competing for each vacancy. Apartments in that region take 53 days to fill, which is 12 days longer than in North Jersey.
Each vacant unit still attracts 10 renters in North Jersey and 8 in Central Jersey. Demand is largely driven by Manhattan, which ranked fifth on RentCafe’s hottest markets. The Big Apple saw nearly 96% of apartments occupied, with demand outpacing new supply.
Renters are holding onto their leases in the Garden State, with 70.6% renewing in North Jersey. Central Jersey recorded an even higher lease-renewal rate of 79.7%.
Nationally, renting is slightly easier than it was last summer, according to the study. But the relief is unevenly spread, as construction has thinned to the point where newly built apartments make up just 0.5% of all rentals.
The study noted that the country’s hottest rental markets have shifted to the Midwest, with Chicago overtaking Miami as the most competitive rental market. The Windy City had about 17 renters lining up for every available apartment and vacant apartments filling in 27 days.
Six of the 10 toughest large markets are in the Midwest, including Grand Rapids, Michigan, at number six, Milwaukee in seventh, and Minnesota’s Suburban Twin Cities in eighth place.
