This is how hard it is to find an apartment in New Jersey

It probably won’t come as a surprise to many New Jersey residents that finding an apartment can be tough, but would you believe that a recent study says that North Jersey is the single toughest place to find a rental in the US.

The folks at Rent Café looked at:

• the number of days apartments were vacant
• the percentage of apartments that were occupied by renters
• the number of prospective renters competing for an apartment
• the percentage of renters who renewed their leases
• the share of new apartments completed

They then compiled a Rental Competitivity Index, and North Jersey (mainly Newark and Jersey City) came out with the highest RCI.

The factors that drove this trend include a shortage of available apartments (a measly 0.3% increase); occupancy rate was 96.6%. Also, 72% of renters choosing to stay put and renew their leases led to 12 people competing for an apartment at the beginning of the year. Based on these factors, North Jersey’s RCI score stood at 115, almost twice the national average of 60.

Believe it or not, it’s twice as hard to find an apartment in North Jersey as it is in Manhattan!

Central Jersey is very competitive as well, snatching the 12th place nationwide, with 84.5% of its renters choosing to stay put and renew their leases — an overall record.

This market saw the pace of construction pick up as 2023 was starting to unfold, but it was not enough to meet demand, which led to 8 prospective renters applying for the same place, amid an occupancy rate of 96%.

Good luck finding an apartment!

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Bill Doyle only.

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