How Does Seasonality Impact Rental Market?

The rental market follows some predictable seasonal patterns every year. Known as seasonality, the rental market is easily influenced by weather changes and typical popular times of the year for people to move in or out. Seasonality has major influences on the rental market as a whole, causing changes in the daily decisions of property managers, leasing agents, and the renters themselves.

Here’s a better look at how rising temperatures and chilly nights can impact the rental market from coast to coast.

Searching Season

Renters move year-round, regardless of the date or temperature. But there are certain times of year that are more popular than others, with moves coming to a head in August in most cases. Apartment searching and moving can also follow different trends, no matter if someone is looking For rent in CT or in warmer parts of the country. Searches for apartments see an increase in the winter and then continue to rise through the spring and summer months as renters start looking for a better time of year to haul their belongings from one place to another.

Moves, on the other hand, are usually pretty quiet at the beginning of the year before increasing dramatically from March, through the summer, then coming to a peak in August.

Seasonality and Moving

Renters who start their search and contact properties at the beginning of the year may be looked at as planners who take their time, researching better options and looking for something that fits their specific desires in a new place to live. Plus, these are people who want to make sure their bases are covered before heading to a new location, such as making sure their previous unit is paid in full and they don’t have to ask, how do you get out of a lease early? Or What is the typical penalty for breaking an apartment lease?

For those who look in the summer, they are more prone to pull the trigger on a place sooner as compared to people who start looking in the winter months.

Even though January renters may take longer to mov, early season renters tend to be window shopping more than actually looking for a new place to live. Renters who begin their search in the first quarter of the year are less likely to actually move than those looking in the peak summer months.

Pricing Properties

When an unfilled unit remains an issue for a property manager, they need to consider when prospects who are looking to move are beginning their search as well as when they tend to move. Many movers aren’t going to move during the colder winter months, during the holidays for instance, or until the kids are out of school for the summer. In general, it’s best to price properties lowest in the winter, highest in the summer, and in the middle of these highs and lows during spring and fall.

Seasonality in the rental market impacts all sides when it comes to decisions made by both renters and property managers. Seasonality has major impacts on lead-to-lease for property managers. For renters, moving in the off season (i.e. winter months) can offer better deals, while moving in the peak part of the year offers better selection for rentals. Both parties can optimize for seasonality by considering the volume of apartment searching and moving.

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