Landlords finally have something resembling good news, provided nobody gets carried away with the rent calculator. September rents dipped, but vacancy kept edging lower. The rental recovery is apparently taking the scenic route.

Story: September rents slipped both month over month and year over year, but Apartment List’s vacancy measure continued easing from February’s peak. That’s the plot twist: rents can soften seasonally while the market gradually tightens. These are apartment-market signals, not a permission slip for every single-family landlord.

So What? Fewer empty apartments could eventually give owners more leverage, but “eventually” does not pay this month’s bills. Vacancy is still above its pre-pandemic norm. Treat the improvement as a reason to watch your local competition, not announce a rent hike that sends a reliable tenant browsing. Optimism is lovely. An occupied unit is lovelier.

What’s Next? Before changing the price, check what comparable rentals actually lease for and how long they sit. If nearby vacancies shrink and leasing speeds up, reassess. If they don’t, protect the renewal instead of trying to collect next year’s recovery today. National data can suggest the direction; your neighborhood still gets the deciding vote.

Source: Apartment List

Is Birmingham, AL Still a Good Rental Market For Investors?

Hunter Terryn, Head of Sales at Evernest and a Birmingham investor himself, breaks down the real numbers behind the market: rent and price trends by neighborhood, average days on market, the major employers driving rental demand, and which specific neighborhoods work best for cash flow versus appreciation. He also covers where to be cautious and how to think about properties outside the metro area. Evernest manages properties across the Birmingham-Hoover metro and this is the same data the team uses to evaluate deals.

Top Weekly Stories:

1️⃣ Housing: Realtor.com says 20.8% of September listings received a price cut, the highest monthly share since October 2022, so sellers are doing a little more negotiating with reality. 🪺 More

2️⃣ Investors: Buyers owning more than 1,000 homes accounted for 2.2% of August home sales, up from 1.4% in February, suggesting the big landlords aren’t done shopping. 🪺 More

3️⃣ Mortgages: The Federal Housing Administration now accepts 2 appraisal file formats during its voluntary transition, but lenders must stick to one format for each loan application. 🪺 More

4️⃣ Interesting Trends: U.S. homeowners had $11.5 trillion in equity they could borrow against in the second quarter, but many are leaving the house-shaped ATM alone. 🪺 More

5️⃣ Policy Changes: The Department of Housing and Urban Development began scoring 6 additional safety requirements on October 1 in its public-housing and multifamily portfolios, not its voucher programs. 🪺 More

The 7 Ways To Increase Cash Flow on Your Rental Property

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