Market Insights

Leads, Rents, and Market Times: Is the Rental Market Finally Steadying?

Market times, leads per on-market period, and rent reductions are still headed in the wrong direction. But unlike our last half dozen market updates, there’s reason to be hopeful.
The rate of the drop in leads per on-market period in Q1, Q2, Q3, and Q4 has slowed significantly, as has the rate of rent reductions.
And anecdotally, we’re hearing cautious optimism among property owners and managers. Let’s get into the numbers.

2024 Q4 Market Update: This Too Shall Pass

One day we’ll forget all about this leasing market. But not yet. The rental market continues to soften, and the data in this market update don’t lie — it’s another tough quarter.
In this recap, we’ll break down the numbers and walk through several charts that highlight historic and ongoing leasing trends dating back to 2017.

2024 Q3 Market Update: Keep on Truckin’

If you read our 2024 Q2 Market Update, this one may sound like a rerun.
We actually had to double-check ourselves to make sure we had the right version of the data. Unfortunately, it’s all too true.
As in our last update, we will share several charts that tell the story of the continually softening rental market.

2024 Q2 Market Update: Battling the Rental Blues

Here we are again, staring at the same Trends We Foretold in Early 2023, observed in real-time Later That Year, and rehashed A Couple of Months Ago. Longer market times, fewer leads, and more rent reductions. If this were a Netflix show, we’d click “Skip recap”. But hang with us. Because it’s time to talk about what to do when things slow down.

Breaking News: Sleeping In On the Weekend, Late Workday Lunches Reduce Market Times

Perhaps not surprisingly, our data shows that renters prefer to tour listings around their workday, during lunch and after work especially. Yet showing agents tend to schedule tours around their workday. To align better with renters, and in effect get more showings, our data indicates that you should be shifting your showing schedule just an hour later. In other words, the early bird may get the worm. But lest we forget, the second mouse gets the cheese. Don’t take our word for it. We’ll walk through the data in this blog post.

2024 Q1 Market Update: Where We’ve Been, Where We’re Going

In the market updates we released for February, May, and September of 2023, we warned of an increasingly soft rental market. Now we’re in the thick of it. Yes, there are some locales that might be an exception. But, nationwide, the applicants-without-effort party has been over for some time. By now, most everybody knows that, so we’re not claiming to break new ground here. But we’re going to show you the details of what’s going on, what comes next, and how you should respond.

Failure to Disclose Pet Policy Can Extend Market Time by up to Five Days

Conventional wisdom says allowing pets will reduce your market times. But, we’ve looked at data from over one hundred thousand ShowMojo rental periods, and what that data has to say may surprise you. When it comes to pets, you don’t need to allow pets to keep market times lower. The real key is to be clear about your pet policy.

2023 Q3 Leasing Market Insights

Are you sitting down? If not, find a seat. Because this quarter’s national leasing market update isn’t pretty.
We’re going to talk through some interesting charts below. But, (spoiler alert) no matter where we looked, days on-market, leads per on-market period, and rent reductions, it’s all going the wrong way.

2023 Q2 Leasing Market Insights

No, it’s not the rental apocalypse. Market times are almost as bad as 2020 in the teeth of pandemic-induced lockdowns. However, let’s remember that while we were holding our collective breath through those months, the four horsemen never did come riding in. That’s the good news.