It’s hard enough for renters in New York to find an apartment they can afford in a neighborhood they like. Then there’s the added challenge of beating out competitors for it. But a September report from RentCafe suggests that Chicagoans — and Philadelphians, Milwaukeeans and Omahans, among others — face even tougher conditions.The study gauged competitiveness on RentCafe’s Rental Competitiveness Index (RCI), based on five metrics: occupancy and lease renewal rates, average days vacant, prospective renters per vacant unit, and the share of newly constructed units. The data, taken from market-rate rental buildings with at least 50 units, paints a familiar picture in the most popular places: demand is strong, people who already have a lease are unlikely to give it up, and newly built properties are scarce.Chicago (fifth in the competitiveness ranking) and its suburbs (first) have surged to the front of the pack, “challenging Miami’s long-held dominance in the U.S. rental market,” according to the study. The Windy City is attracting new renters with a combination of traditional economic springboards, like major employers relocating there, and newer ones, like the transformation of once-sleepy commuter towns into hipsturbias. The demand is intensified by high occupancy rates — only one in 20 apartments is available — and slow construction of new apartments, which account for just one in 1,000 rental properties in the Chicago suburbs and one in 200 in the city itself. This has led, in places, to rent bidding wars.Different forces underlie RentCafe’s list of highly competitive smaller rental markets, where Madison, Wis., and Fayetteville, Ark., lead the way. Madison is attracting tech startups and their employees, while Fayetteville is experiencing surging enrollment at the University of Arkansas.But the problem is the same everywhere: insufficient rental stock to meet the increasing demand. Even in ninth-ranked Manhattan, 24 percent of available apartments wound up in bidding wars this June (though rents themselves remained more or less stable, thanks to a jump in new construction). Perhaps London will become the next hot borough: In a bid to stabilize out-of-control rents, Britain’s Labour government is planning to ban rental bidding wars in England entirely.
Toughest Spots for RentersA RentCafe study ranked 137 U.S. rental markets based on competitiveness across five metrics. Below, the number of prospective renters per unit in the study's 20 most competitive markets.
Prospective
Renters Per Unit
Market
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
Suburban Chicago
Miami-Dade County
Milwaukee
Bridgeport-New Haven
Chicago
North Jersey
Omaha
Suburban Philadelphia
Manhattan, N.Y.
Brooklyn, N.Y.
Grand Rapids, Mich.
Detroit
Baltimore
Broward County, Fla.
Eastern Virginia
Orange County, Calif.
Lansing-Ann Arbor, Mich.
Greater Boston
Kansas City, Mo.
Cincinnati
16
18
14
16
14
13
13
10
9
14
10
10
10
13
10
12
8
13
9
11
Prospective
Renters Per Unit
Prospective
Renters Per Unit
Market
Market
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Suburban Chicago
Miami-Dade County
Milwaukee
Bridgeport-New Haven
Chicago
North Jersey
Omaha
Suburban Philadelphia
Manhattan, N.Y.
Brooklyn, N.Y.
16
18
14
16
14
13
13
10
9
14
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
Grand Rapids, Mich.
Detroit
Baltimore
Broward County, Fla.
Eastern Virginia
Orange County, Calif.
Lansing-Ann Arbor, Mich.
Greater Boston
Kansas City, Mo.
Cincinnati
10
10
10
13
10
12
8
13
9
11
Source: RentCafe
By The New York Times
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