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» VISIT US ONLINE @ DSNEWS.COM 91 ARIZONA The Growth Trajectory of SFR Prices Phoenix had the highest year-over-year rent price increase at 6.9 percent according to a CoreLogic report on single-family rent (SFR) prices. Nationally, the report indicated that SFR prices increased 3.1 percent year-over-year in December 2018. Rent prices also increased in Las Vegas at 6.8 percent. Orlando experienced the third highest year-over-year rent increase at 5.1 per- cent. Low-end rent prices were up by 3.7 percent, compared to high- end price gains of 2.9 percent, indicating that low-end rental growth outpaced high-end gains for the fifth consecutive year in 2018. Stronger rent growth was seen in metro areas such as Orlando and Phoenix due to limited new construction, low rental vacancies, and strong local economies that attract new employees. Both the cities saw high year-over-year rent growth in December 2018, driven by employment growth of 4.8 percent and 4 percent year-over-year, respectively. e report noted that low rental home inventory, relative to demand, fuels the growth of single-family rent prices. Single-family rent prices have climbed between 2010 and 2018. However, year- over-year rent price increases overall have slowed since February 2016, when they reached a peak at 4.2 percent, and have stabilized over the last year with a monthly average of 3 percent. "Single-family rents increased an average of 3 percent in 2018, ex- ceeding the 2.7 percent average pace experienced in 2017," said Molly Boesel, Principal Economist at CoreLogic. "e strengthening in rent prices reflects strong economic and labor markets. However, low-end rental increases outpaced high-end increases for the fifth consecutive year, suggesting continued supply constraints on the lower end." On a national basis, the rent growth was continuously propped up by low-end rentals throughout the previous year. is trend held steady into December. Rent prices among this tier, that CoreLogic defined as properties with rent prices less than 75 percent of the regional median, rose by 3.7 percent on an annual basis in December 2018—dropping slightly from the 3.9 percent increase experienced in December 2017. Meanwhile, high-end rentals, defined as properties with rent prices greater than 125 percent of a region's median rent, increased 2.9 percent in December 2018, up from 2.5 percent in December 2017. In disaster-affected areas, rent prices experienced steady growth throughout the past year. However, in December, Houston experi- enced the lowest rent increases of all analyzed metros at 1 percent, down from 2.7 percent in 2017. is is the lowest rent growth for the Houston metro area since September 2017, in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Harvey.

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