A
new report from Santa Barbara, California-based
RentCafe ranks Milwaukee as the 7
th “most competitive” apartment rental market in the nation.
For its report, RentCafe analyzed 137 markets in the U.S. where it says data was available to rank the nation’s hottest renting spots. It used five key indicators in its analysis: the number of days apartments were vacant, the percentage of apartments that were occupied, how many renters applied for the same apartment, the percentage of renters who renewed their leases and the share of new apartments completed. Combining those five data points, RentCafe creates a total “competitive score,” and Milwaukee’s score was 7
th highest in the nation.
Miami ranked as the hottest U.S. apartment market in the RentCafe analysis, followed by northern New Jersey and southwest Florida. Omaha, Nebraska was the highest-ranked, Midwest market, followed by Grand Rapids, Michigan and then Milwaukee.
According to the RentCafe data, Milwaukee’s apartments are 95.7% occupied, which is higher than the national average of 94%. Milwaukee apartments are vacant for an average of 43 days, which is the same as the national average. Milwaukee apartments have an average of 14 prospective renters per unit, which is higher than the national average of 9 renters competing for a vacant apartment. The lease renewal rate for Milwaukee apartments is 68.6%, considerably higher than the national average of 59.7%.
This data showing the strength of Milwaukee’s apartment market comes as several large apartment development projects are under construction or planned in Milwaukee, including the 322-unit, 44-story Couture tower under construction near the downtown lakefront and a 31-story, 305-unit tower under construction in the Historic Third Ward.
For smaller U.S. rental markets, Madison ranked as the 8
th hottest in the nation, according to RentCafe. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania was the most competitive small market, followed by Fayetteville, Arkansas and Providence, Rhode Island.
“The 1.02% increase in new apartments in Madison is not enough to accommodate the growing demand coming from new residents lured here by jobs in tech, biotech and health care,” the RentCafe report states.
