Rent for 1-bedroom apartments in Gilbert fell 6.2% on a month-over-month basis in April. Similarly, Scottsdale 1-bedroom rents were down 2.4%. However, local cities in the Phoenix area showed higher rents.
This is according to a new National Rent Report released by Zumper on April 23.
The data for the Phoenix area can be seen in the table below, which is the result of a search for AZ cities in the report:
In contrast, Mesa has had a 4.80% jump in 1-bedroom rents, and Glendale rents are up 3.40% on a month-over-month (M/M) basis.
Moreover, 4 cities in Arizona now have higher rents on an M/M basis, as seen in the table above.
Nevertheless, all Arizona cities, except for Tucson, have lower rents compared to a year ago. In fact, Gilbert rents are down 17% Y/Y, and Scottsdale rents are 8.8% lower.
These average rent declines and higher rents are much more volatile than the national average. Zumper's national rent index shows one-bedrooms are down 0.6% to $1,486.
The higher rents in most Arizona major cities may be adding to inflation concerns in the economy. Last month, the average CPI index rose 3.5% in March 2024 on a Y/Y basis. The "Shelter" component of the index was up 5.7%, although this includes items other than owner's equivalent rent (OER). Nevertheless, the OER component of the CPI index comprises over 26.7% of the total Consumer Price Index.
The bottom line is that as rents continue rising in Arizona, the overall cost of living is rising as well.
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Mark R. Hake, CFA, writes articles on national and local news, stocks, and market events at Kiplinger.com, Barchart.com, Medium.com, and Newsbreak.com as well as GuruFocus and TalkMarkets.
Hake is the Chief Strategy Officer for AnaChart, a new sell-side stock analyst tracking service, and he is the Chief Strategy Officer at Foldstar Inc., a high-tech folding tech company.