Downtown apartment rents hit another high in the first quarter, and more hikes may be in the offing amid a red-hot rental market.
The average effective rent at top-tier, or Class A, downtown apartment buildings rose to $2.50 a square foot in the quarter, up 2.9 percent from the fourth quarter and 9.2 percent from a year earlier, according to Appraisal Research Counselors, a Chicago-based consulting firm.
Landlords have been raising rents for more than two years as many people have steered clear of the depressed condominium market and decided to rent instead. Rents at the high end of the downtown market have risen 20.2 percent since bottoming out at the end of 2009; the average Class A apartment costs $2,148 a month today vs. $1,787 back then.
