Originally published on January 17, 2023, by Michael Tucker for the Mortgage Banker's Association.
RealPage, Richardson, Texas, said net demand for apartments finished 2022 in negative territory for the first time in years.
“But, unlike the last time demand went negative in 2009, renter turnover was curiously low in 2022,” said Jay Parsons, RealPage Vice President, Head of Economics and Industry Principals. “Instead, the problem was at the front door: Demand for new leases all but evaporated due to low consumer confidence and high inflation.”
In other words, Parsons noted, after a historic wave of household formation and relocations in 2021, Americans chose to mostly stay put last year.
“We’ve never before seen a period like this–weak demand for all types of housing despite robust job growth and sizable wage gains,” Parsons said. “It wasn’t just apartment demand that shot up in 2021 and plunged in 2022. The same pattern played out to varying degrees in other rentals and in for-sale homes.”