Apartment rents in the metro Milwaukee area have risen 5.7% since last year, the fifth highest increase in the nation, according to a new report from Seattle-based real estate website company
Zillow Group, Inc.
The Zillow report comes after other recent reports have also indicated that apartment rents in the Milwaukee area have been some of the fastest-rising in the nation and that the area's apartment market is among the nation's most competitive.
An April report from CBRE using data from CoStar Group said the average apartment rental rate in the metro Milwaukee area has risen 15.5% since the first quarter of 2020.
An April report from Forbes said Milwaukee has the nation’s fifth most competitive rental market.
A report in March from RentCafe said Milwaukee’s apartment market is the second-most competitive in the nation.
Apartment rental rates in the metro Milwaukee area average $1,394 a month, according to the new Zillow report.
Only Hartford, Connecticut (7.8%), Cleveland (7.2%), Louisville, Kentucky (6.8%) and Providence, Rhode Island (6.3%) have had higher increases in apartment rates since a year ago, according to Zillow.
For the United States as a whole, apartment rents are averaging $2,054 month, up 3.5% from a year ago, according to the report.
Of the five metro areas with the fastest-rising apartment rents, only Providence has an average monthly rent above the national average.
"Renters are being drawn to more affordable areas within the Northeast and Midwest. Commuting into New York City or Boston from places like Hartford or Providence might have been a deterrent before, but in this new age of remote and hybrid work, the savings seem worth it for many renters, even if it means an occasional painful commute," said Skylar Olsen, chief economist at Zillow.
