COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE'S ECONOMIC ADVISORS

National multifamily rent growth held near 1.0% in April, while short-term momentum improved modestly. Conditions remain soft, but the latest data suggest the market is no longer broadly worsening.

The May 2026 Independent Landlord Rental Performance Report from Chandan Economics and RentRedi shows continued improvement in on-time rent payments across independently operated rental properties. But while full-payment outcomes remain resilient, late-payment pressure is still elevated, pointing to an uneven recovery beneath the surface.

According to the New York Fed’s 2026 SCE Housing Survey, just 21.7% of Americans expect to move within the next three years. Renters remain more mobile than homeowners, but moving expectations have fallen sharply across tenure, age, income, and education groups.

National rents rose 1.2% year-over-year in February, down from 1.4% in January and 1.6% in December, marking a continued slowdown from the modest re-acceleration observed in late 2024. While rent growth remains positive, the trend has clearly softened, reflecting ongoing supply pressures and a normalization in demand following the post-pandemic surge.