Jump in asking rents points to move away from cities

Despite issues with sampling due to COVID-19, the third quarter HVS survey did provide some interesting information on the impact of the virus. A surge in median asking rents was caused by a jump in the share of expensive multifamily units on the market, which in turn looks to reflect a movement away from cities during the pandemic. That points to a relatively large drop in luxury apartment rents over the next few months. Beyond that, however, we still expect city demand to stabilise once the virus has passed.