How COVID-19 is Impacting the Rental Market - April 8th, 2020

Krista Reuther | July 26, 2024 | 11 min read

The TurboTenant Rental Trends report expands this week to include analysis for the whole month of March. We are comparing three key data points on a week over week basis as well as monthly trends for new listings. The goal is to get a better understanding of how the coronavirus outbreak is affecting various rental markets across the U.S. Just as the virus’ spread and stay at home orders vary from state to state, so has the impact on rental listings, and rental leads. According to a recent report by Redfin, a national real estate brokerage, on the impact of the coronavirus on the housing market, delistings and new home listings steeply declined in March. While some markets mimicked those trends, others are showing strong numbers as we enter what is historically the peak rental season.

Data:

The TurboTenant Rental Trends report includes four key rental market indicators. Our first data set is total active listings. This analysis looks at the change in the total number of active listings in each location on a week over week basis beginning the week of March 2nd and ending on Sunday April 5th. The next data set we looked at is the total number of new listings for the first week of March compared to the total number of listings for the week ending April 5th. In a pre-coronavirus world historically these numbers have increased as we enter the peak rental season starting in April. Our third data point is total renter leads. Here we analyze the change in the number of renter leads each location reported. Our final data point is the average number of renter leads each property receives. Again, we analyze the reported change on a week over week basis.

Below, we break down the trends reported for 18 major cities across the country.

Rental Markets

1. Atlanta 2. Baltimore 3. Boston 4. Brooklyn 5. Chicago 6. Cleveland 7. Denver 8. Houston 9. Jersey City 10. Los Angeles 11. Miami 12. Milwaukee 13. New York 14. Omaha 15. Philadelphia 16. San Diego 17. Seattle 18. Tampa

Atlanta

Data Highlights:

Active Listings: Atlanta’s biggest decline was the first week of the month at -27.45%. The month ended with a 12.12% increase in active listings.
New Listings: 83% net gain for the month of March.
Renter Leads: Atlanta started with 42.11% lead growth and ended with a 14.52% increase by the end of the month.
Average Renter Leads Per Property: The biggest decline was posted the second week and continued at or below that level for the entire month.

Rental inventory appears to be trending normally, interest in those properties and rental leads are trending downward.

Baltimore

Data Highlights:

Active Listings: Baltimore posted steady declines, the largest at 15% for the last week of the month.
New Listings: 70% net loss for the month of March.
Renter Leads: Initially leads posted an increase of 7.58%, but sustained losses for the rest of the month.
Average Renter Leads Per Property: This number stayed steady as losses in other data points trended together.

Rental inventory and leads are both trending down, potentially indicating that both inventory and rental leads have been affected by the pandemic.

Boston

Data Highlights:

Active Listings: Boston posted three weeks of continuous losses with a nice jump of 47% the last week.
New Listings: 35% net loss for the month of March.
Renter Leads: There was a significant decrease in the second week, but by months end posted a nearly 20% increase from the previous week.
Average Renter Leads Per Property: There was one lead decrease that was sustained throughout the month.

Boston rental inventory and leads initially trended downward, but appear to be starting to recover as we enter April.

Brooklyn

Data Highlights:

Active Listings: Brooklyn saw a slight increase in the first week, followed by a 28% decrease the following week with minimal recovery.
New Listings: 26% net loss for the month of March.
Renter Leads: Following suit with listings there was an up tick the first of the month, followed by two down weeks and an 11% positive move to close out the month.
Average Renter Leads: Consistent with other losses, average leads per property is down from 16 to 12.

Brooklyn rental inventory, leads and new listings are all trending down with slight up ticks towards the end of the month.

Chicago

Data Highlights:

Active Listings: Chicago has seen some double digit declines, but appears to be recovering as we enter April with an 8% increase last reported.
New Listings: 7% net loss for the month of March.
Renter Leads: Renter leads have taken the biggest hit in Chicago with a 36% and 40% decrease mid-month.
Average Renter Leads: Consistent with the decline in renter leads, the average has fallen sharply from 11 to four.

Chicago rental inventory is trending up towards the end of the month, as well as renter leads as we head into April.

Cleveland

Data Highlights:

Active Listings: Steady losses were reported with the largest the week ending March 29th at -32%.
New Listings: 300% net gain for the month of March.
Renter Leads: Losses were reported mid-month with a nice rebound of 66% by April 5th.
Average Renter Leads: Steep losses reported mid-month 16 to 4, with a slight uptick ending the month at 5 on average.

Cleveland rental inventory, leads and new listings are all trending down with slight up ticks towards the end of the month.

Denver

Data Highlights:

Active Listings: Denver started the month strong at 20% and steadily decreased over the month falling to -30.25% by the end of March.
New Listings: 58.67% net loss for the month of March.
Renter Leads: Denver started with 4.07% and actually saw increases in renter leads, but declined by the end of the month to -30.38%.
Average Renter Leads Per Property: Leads stayed the same in Denver throughout the month at three leads per property.

Denver’s rental inventory appears to be trending downward as well as rental leads.

Houston

Data Highlights:

Active Listings: Houston started the month strong with an increase of 11.9% and although it decreased mid-month, listings increased to 18.18% by the end of the month.
New Listings: 38.89% net loss for the month of March.
Renter Leads: Houston’s leads were very strong at an increase of 80.57% at the beginning of March, but then decreased throughout the month, and finally leads made extreme gains at the end of the month at 232.91%.
Average Renter Leads Per Property: Houston’s leads per property started at six and decreased, but then ended the month as it started at six.

Houston rental inventory appears to be trending normally and upward, and rental leads and interest are also trending upward.

Jersey City

Data Highlights:

Active Listings: Jersey City started with a decrease of -5.09% active listings and decreased throughout the month, but made gains to end at 1.06%.
New Listings: 69.52% net loss for the month of March.
Renter Leads: Renter leads were up and down throughout the month but started at 4.7% and ended at -5.32%.
Average Renter Leads Per Property: Leads in Jersey City actually stayed the same and then increased starting at five and ending at six.

Jersey City’s rental inventory appears to be trending downward, while rental leads have fluctuated and actually trended upward at the end of the month.

Los Angeles

Data Highlights:

Active Listings: Los Angeles started the month with a slight increase of 0.74% in listings and made gains to end the month at 11.11%.
New Listings: 20.59% net gain for the month of March.
Renter Leads: Los Angeles started with a decrease of -9.12% and continued to decrease with high gains mid-month, but ended at -53.43%.
Average Renter Leads Per Property: Los Angeles leads started at nine and stayed the same and increased, but ended March at five leads per property.

Los Angeles rental inventory seems to overall be making gains, yet leads and interest in properties is trending downwards.

Miami

Data Highlights:

Active Listings: Miami started the month with a decrease of -7.41% and then varied throughout the month ending at 0%.
New Listings: 51.28% net loss for the month of March.
Renter Leads: Miami started strong at 43.04% and then decreased heavily, with a slight increase to end the month at 3.41%
Average Renter Leads Per Property: Miami’s average leads per property have slowly decreased starting at 10 and ending the month at seven.

Miami’s rental inventory appears to be trending normally with losses and gains, but rental leads are lower than they were at the start of March.

Milwaukee

Data Highlights:

Active Listings: Milwaukee started at a decrease of 10% and then made gains upward ending at a 3.23% increase in listings.
New Listings: 50% net loss for the month of March.
Renter Leads: Lead growth started strong at 15.18%, then dropped mid-month, but made positive gains ending the month at 43.74%.
Average Renter Leads Per Property: Milwaukee started with a strong amount of average leads at 46 and ended the month at 36.

Milwaukee’s rental inventory seems to be normal and is now trending upward, interest in properties and rental leads are also making gains and trending positively.

New York

Data Highlights:

Active Listings: New York started at a decrease of -20% in listings and dropped even more, but recovered and ended the month at 13.51%.
New Listings: 65.17% net loss for the month of March.
Renter Leads: Renter leads started down this month at -11.11% and then made gains to end the month at 10.34%.
Average Renter Leads Per Property: New York’s average leads mainly remained the same and started at two per property and ended with one per property.

New York’s rental inventory trended downward and is now increasing, but then interest in properties and number of leads per property is trending downwards.

Omaha

Data Highlights:

Active Listings: Omaha started the month with an increase of 9.09%, decreased throughout the month, but ended at 9%.
New Listings: 75% net gain for the month of March.
Renter Leads: Omaha started positive at 27.08% and decreased throughout the month ending at a decrease of -24.68%.
Average Renter Leads Per Property: Omaha started the month strong with 17 leads and rapidly decreased ending the month with an average of eight leads per property.

Omaha’s rental inventory appears to be trending upward, but interest in those properties and rental leads are trending down.

Philadelphia

Data Highlights:

Active Listings: Philadelphia started strong at 10.91% increase in listings and varied throughout the month ending back at 0%.
New Listings: 21.88% net loss for the month of March.
Renter Leads: Philadelphia started at a positive increase of 7.91% in lead growth, decreased min-month, and recovered to end the month at 23.21%.
Average Renter Leads Per Property: Philadelphia’s leads started at 16 per property and ended the month also at 16 leads per property.

Philadelphia’s rental inventory appears to be trending normally upward, and interest in those properties and rental leads are trending upward as well.

San Diego

Data Highlights:

Active Listings: San Diego started the month at a positive 18.87% increase in listings, dropped in the middle, and made a recovery and ended the month at 6%.
New Listings: 3.13% net gain for the month of March.
Renter Leads: San Diego started at a -0.41% decrease in lead growth, and then decreased far below that, but recovered slightly and ended the month at -23.42%.
Average Renter Leads Per Property: San Diego’s leads slowly decreased the whole month starting at seven and ending at three leads per property.

San Diego’s rental inventory appears to be trending normally with both positive gains in listings, but interest in those properties and rental leads are trending down.

Seattle

Data Highlights:

Active Listings: Seattle started the month at a decline at -6.25% and increased in the middle of the month and ended the month as it started at -6.25%.
New Listings: 12.5% net loss for the month of March.
Renter Leads: Seattle started the month with a -29.62% and made large gains in the middle of the month, but ended at -32.08%.
Average Renter Leads Per Property: Seattle’s lead averages for march started at seven and slowly decreased to only four leads per property.

Seattle’s rental inventory is declining as well as interest in those properties – however, rental leads only decreased by three.

Tampa

Data Highlights:

Active Listings: Tampa’s biggest drop was in the middle of the month at -18.18%. The month ended with a 11.11% increase in active listings.
New Listings: 38.89% net loss for the month of March.
Renter Leads: Tampa started with a -4.21% lead loss and made big gains in the middle, but ended at -11.07%.
Average Renter Leads Per Property: Tampa leads actually increased the middle of the month and slowly declined ending at eight leads per property.

Tampa’s rental inventory appeared to be trending normally up and down, but interest in those properties and rental leads are slowly decreasing.

You can view all data visualizations here. If you have data requirements that are outside the scope of this article, please email [email protected]. We have a plethora of data and are happy to supply another data set if it is available.