Apartment rents increased across the West and South in the first quarter for the first time since 2008 as a drop in the national unemployment rate from a two-decade high helped tenants pay more for housing.
The average asking rent rose to $943, from $932 in the fourth quarter, according to a report Thursday by RealFacts, which surveyed owners of more than 12,700 apartment complexes. Rents hadn’t increased from the previous three months since the third quarter of 2008, the Novato, Calif.-based research company said.
They still fell 3.6 percent from a year earlier.
“I would attribute it to a tiny little uptick in the rate of employment on a national level, combined with a lack of supply of rental housing,” said Sarah Bridge, the owner of RealFacts.
