Rents: More expensive or less, depending
Apartment rents are higher than a year ago in some parts of the Baltimore metro area but lower in others, a sign that difficulties in the for-sale market are having an uneven effect on the rental market.
A new report from Delta Associates shows average effective rents for Class A apartments rose 2.2 percent in the metro area to about $1,380 this summer, "due in large part to the northern suburbs (up 3.9% from third quarter 2007)." Rents were flat downtown and decreased 4.6 percent in the Fells Point/Inner Harbor neighborhoods, Delta says.
Apartment industry analysts have blamed sluggish or falling rents on the "shadow market" -- condos and other homes for rent because the owners are having a hard time selling.
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Comments
Yes, there are a lot of homes for rent which must be effecting apartment rentals. As a real estate agent I am seeing a great deal of people choose to rent instead of buy. There is a lot of pent up demand waiting to buy. I believe the tide is changing because it is getting harder and harder to find single family rentals.
Posted by: Suzy Woodhead | October 20, 2008 9:54 PM