The cost of renting an apartment in Naperville climbed more than 10% over the past year, a trend that’s being seen across the United States according to one rent expert.
The latest report from Apartment List shows rents in Naperville increased 10.4% between June of this year and June 2021. It was even higher in May, when year-to-year rental costs were up by 12%.
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Apartment List data shows rents in the city have increased for the last 20 months straight. The last time rents declined was in October 2020.
Chris Salviati, a senior housing economist at Apartment List, said the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the rental market.
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During the height of the pandemic rents dipped slightly in the big cities as the market experienced a contraction caused by younger renters moving back in with their families to save on rent and wait out the pandemic, Salviati said.
In suburbs like Naperville, prices rose, he said.
“I think a lot of folks were really looking for a bit more space, and things in the city were sort of closed down. That was kind of driving that trend,” he said.
But in the past 18 months, rents have started rising rapidly “pretty much across the board” because of a strong demand and lack of supply, Salviati said.
“All those people that had moved in with their parents in the first couple months of the pandemic decided to strike back out on their own,” he said.
In addition, those living with roommates and all working remotely together realized they needed their own space, Salviati said.
“There were multiple individuals that had previously been occupying one housing unit, and now they were trying to go out and occupy multiple housing units, so that was creating this really strong demand,” he said.
On the flip side, the supply was low.
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“We saw more folks renewing leases and staying in place and not wanting to move during the pandemic and so there just wasn’t as much turnover,” he said. “That kind of environment where there were a lot of folks looking for places to rent but not a lot of inventory was driving these really rapid price increases.”
Salviati said another factor to watch is the home buying market.
Many renters took advantage of low interest rates to purchase a house last year. But with a rise in interest rates, renters are less likely to buy, he said.
The one sliver of hope is that rents could be nearing a peak, Salviati said.
“Landlords can only charge as much as renters are willing and able to pay,” he said. “After a year of having seen these really rapid rent increases, I think we’re going to be starting to get to the point where we’re starting to bump up on some of those limits and things are starting to back off slightly.”
In June, Naperville had the second most expensive apartment units among the largest municipalities in the Chicago metropolitan area, according to Apartment List.
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Wheaton beat out Naperville for the highest median rents, with $1,580 for a one-bedroom and $2,020 for two bedrooms.
Median rents in Naperville stood at $1,565 for a one-bedroom apartment and $1,975 for a two-bedroom, the report shows.
That is up from May, when median rents were $1,557 for a one-bedroom apartment and $1,966 for two bedrooms.
Waukegan had the least expensive rents in June, according to the report, with a median price for a one-bedroom apartment of $1,070 or two-bedroom for $1,310, an overall increase of 10.8% over the past year.
By comparison, the median rent for an apartment in Naperville’s neighbor to the west, Aurora, rose 14% over last year, with a one bedroom going for $1,340 and two bedrooms costing $1,770.
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