Suburban Renter Boom: Metro Exodus
Center Park Group has completed its 12th build-to-rent community in Charleston, while Blackstone is expanding its rental housing investments across various sectors due to high demand. Additionally, the multifamily apartment market is resetting amid persistent homeownership challenges, and rental prices continue to rise, driving affordability concerns.
Center Park Group has completed Bellerose at Bees Ferry, its 12th build-to-rent community in Charleston, featuring 155 three-bedroom townhomes developed in partnership with RangeWater Real Estate. The newly completed community includes amenities like a swimming pool and dog park, while each townhome offers 1,415 square feet of living space with private garages, fenced backyards, and modern finishes.
Blackstone is significantly expanding its rental housing investments across multiple sectors including multifamily, student housing, and mobile homes, driven by strong rental demand and the fact that acquiring existing properties remains more cost-effective than new construction in many key US markets. While the firm owns over 274,000 rental units nationwide through its BREIT platform, this represents less than 1% of the total US rental housing stock.
The multifamily apartment market is entering a reset phase in 2025, with high rental demand persisting due to homeownership being out of reach for many households, while new apartment supply is declining and certain markets like the Northeast, Midwest and parts of the West Coast are already showing strong performance.
JLL Capital Markets has arranged a $26 million construction take-out bridge loan for Magnolia at Powell, a newly built 132-unit build-to-rent community in Wildwood, Florida, which is currently 40% occupied and features amenities like a resort-style pool, fitness center, and pickleball court. The property, completed in January 2025, offers one to three-bedroom townhomes with monthly rents starting at $1,350.
According to the June 2025 Yardi Matrix report, U.S. multifamily average rents increased slightly by $3 to reach $1,749, with year-over-year growth at 0.9%. The Midwest region showed the strongest rent growth led by cities like Chicago and Columbus, while Sun Belt and Mountain West markets like Austin and Denver experienced rent declines.
Suburban renter households in 15 major metro areas have more than doubled between 2018 and 2023, reaching approximately six million households and prompting developers to shift their focus away from urban centers.
Rental prices continue to increase amid ongoing inflation and housing inventory challenges, with typical asking rents rising 3.2% compared to last year according to Zillow data, though the pace of growth has slowed from previous pandemic-era spikes. The rental market remains tight with households spending nearly 30% of income on rent, requiring an annual income of around $82,000 to afford a typical rental.
Single-family rental growth in the Midwest (+6.1%) and Northeast (+4.6%) regions has led the market in 2025, while the national median rent for 3-bedroom homes reached $2,135, representing a modest 1.7% year-over-year increase amid rising vacancy rates that hit 6.3% in Q1 2025.
The current rental market is experiencing an affordability crisis with median one-bedroom rents at $1,520 and two-bedroom units at $1,910, making it increasingly difficult for renters to save enough to transition into homeownership, especially given record-high home prices and elevated mortgage rates. Approximately 70% of renters are unable to afford a typical two-bedroom rental home, highlighting the severe affordability challenges in both the rental and homebuying markets.
According to the June 2025 rental report, renting continues to be significantly more affordable than buying a starter home across most major U.S. metros, with renters saving an average of $908 per month compared to buyers. The median asking rent declined for the 23rd consecutive month year-over-year, dropping 2.1% to $1,711 for 0-2 bedroom properties in the 50 largest metropolitan areas.