After skyrocketing the past year, some rent prices appear to be coming down in Illinois.
After declining by as much as 20% in Chicago and other urban metros at the height of the pandemic, rent prices began to soar.
Jon Leckie, researcher for the website Rent.com, said the real estate market contributed to the rising prices for apartments.
“If you have a red hot housing market, it is going to put a lot of pressure on rents as well,” Leckie said.
Some are also blaming a rental algorithm called YieldStar that takes the human element out of housing and hikes prices on behalf of landlords. Created by Texas-based property management software company RealPage, YieldStar is an analytics algorithm that uses rental rate data to help landlords set rental prices.
But Leckie said prices for apartments in Illinois started to go in the other direction last month.
“The city of Chicago was down about 6%, and the state of Illinois was down a little over 4.5%,” Leckie said.
Industry analysts say we are seeing a complete reversal of market conditions, going from demand significantly outstripping available units to now new units outpacing lackluster demand.
Prices around the state are still up from last year. In Joliet, a 1-bedroom apartment is going for about $1,000, up 13% from last year. In Schaumburg, the price is around $1,500, up 14%, and in St. Charles, a 1-bedroom apartment averages around $1,900, a 13% increase over last year.
In Chicago, it is a different story. A 1-bedroom apartment averages $1,859 a month, down 4% from last year, while a 2-bedroom apartment goes for about $2,263, down 16% from last year.
Renters in the Windy City can compare that to The Big Apple. A 1-bedroom apartment in New York City currently averages $4,477 a month.
This article originally appeared on The Center Square.
