Elgin Area Chamber Of Commerce: Apartments Closest To City Centers Lose Status As Rent Growth Hot Spots

Press release from the Elgin Area Chamber of Commerce:

March 09, 2022

The impact of work-from-home arrangements instituted by companies fighting to contain the spread of the coronavirus has shifted demand for apartments away from downtown urban areas, according to CoStar Advisory Services research.

“From 2015 to the start of 2020, areas within 15 minutes of the city center outperformed on economic rent growth due to a combination of good rent growth and outsized demand and inventory growth,” Andrew Rybczynski, managing consultant for CoStar Advisory Services, said in a new report. “Then, in the second quarter of 2020, economic rent (along with asking rents) within 15 minutes of the city center declined, while every other drive-time band increased.”

Even though renters have returned to downtowns, the result is the best place for investors seeking rent growth is in drive-time rings farther out, he said.

In examining drive-time belts across the country, CoStar Advisory Services found the 30-to-60-minute distance has fewer apartment properties than the 15-minute ring but experienced the best cumulative rent growth since 2015.

Source: www.CoStar.com

This press release was produced by the Elgin Area Chamber of Commerce. The views expressed here are the author’s own.