According to real estate analytics and market research company Reis Inc, apartment owners and managers Nationwide continue to push on higher rents.
In the fourth quarter of last year rents hiked an average of 0.8% in the US. Looking at the full year, rent rose 3.2%. Way above the average, Seattle topped the nation seeing 7.1% growth in the last year due to the boom of the technology sector. Other technology-focused markets also saw record growth including San Francisco and San Jose.
The vacancy rate fell to 4.1% in the fourth quarter from 4.6% during the same time in 2012.
This rent-price growth is due to many factors including limited supply, rising mortgage rates, more restrictive borrowing requirements, and many people still feeling the effect of the last housing crash and deciding to rent vs buy at this time.