48% of property managers say rents rose over past 12 months: TransUnion | Cross River Real Estate

Roughly 48% of property managers surveyed by TransUnion said rental prices increased over the last 12 months on the majority of their properties.

The credit firm surveyed more than 1,200 large and small managers. Last year, less than 40% of respondents said rents were rising.

Roughly 70% of large managers, those handling more than 200 properties, said rents increased from last year.

“The rise in rental prices, coupled with a decrease in vacancy rates and the ability to attract new residents with less effort are all positive signs for the market and rental property managers,” said Steve Roe, vice president of TransUnion rental screening solutions.

Even though rents are rising, demand remains high and managers are not having a problem locating new residents, according to the survey.

Nearly 73% of the managers said it was not difficult to find new occupants, compared to 67% last year.

The survey showed 83% of managers said vacancy rates were less than 5%, and more than 70% reported no vacancies.

Investors and would-be property managers flooded the Federal Housing Finance Agency with applications to take advantage of the rental boom. The agency continues to work on a pilot program to rent out previously foreclosed homes owned by Fannie Mae.

It will closely monitor how these property managers handle the homes in still fragile markets.

More than half of small property managers said they had a renter “skip out” on a unit and left with unpaid rent or damages, according to the TransUnion survey.

“Many of these people only rent out a few units, thus it’s especially important for them to do all they can to identify reliable tenants,” Roe said.