At the beginning of the U.S. spread of COVID-19, our team tracked the impact that market uncertainty and changing health concerns had on our multifamily clients. At the beginning of the pandemic, we saw a slump in website traffic and searches for apartment communities nationwide. As time progressed the trends changed and amidst the crisis, we saw an upward trend among our client base.

As we sit here in July, a key leasing period for multifamily communities, the leasing environment we are seeing looks healthier than what many of us might have imagined. Communities will continue to make tough decisions in the months ahead but from where we are sitting right now, the demand for rental housing and the desire for apartment seekers to move this summer is still strong. We looked at several signals across a variety of industry sources, combined with our own internal data to give you a glimpse into today’s rental market.