Hotel Occupancy Rates & Housing Rentals

2015 Rental Housing & Hotel Occupancy Rates

Hotel occupancy rates in the United States have been on the rise in recent years. The strong demand underlying the price increases reflects the strengthening economy overall. However, there is a slight decline in hotel occupancy rates expected over 2015. The following chart shows a 9.8% increase in hotel occupancy rates since 2009, and a 0.2% decrease forecasted over 2015.

2009-2015 Hotel Occupancy Rates | Statista.com

Hotel Pricing

The following chart shows a 3% increase in hotel room pricing for 2014, and a forecasted 6.5% daily rate increase for 2015 (up $7.95 per day). If hotel occupancy rates and pricing continue to increase, the trend will significantly exceed the rate of inflation.

2009-2015 Hotel Room Pricing | Statista.com

Residential Rental Housing Vacancy Rates

The following chart shows that United States residential rental housing vacancy rates have decreased by 3.7% between 2009 and 2014. Vacancy rates decreased 0.4% to 7.0% in Q4 2014, the lowest level since 1993. This low rate is expected to drive up rental costs and increase the appeal of home ownership.

2009-2014 Rental Housing Vacancy Rates | U.S. Census Bureau

Apartment Vacancy Rates

The following chart shows that United States apartment vacancy rates are forecasted to increase by 0.9% in 2015. Per Reuters.com, this may be because household formations more than quadrupled in Q4 2014 to 1.7 million from only 356,000 in the same period in 2013. And, in February 2015, the National Apartment Association published that suburban rent growth is climbing at a greater rate than growth in urban areas. This growth began to increase in early 2014, based on new suburban supply and continued rent increases in the cities.

2009-2015 Apartment Vacancy Rates | Statista.com

“Rents and home prices continue to rise at a healthy pace” – Stephanie Karol, IHS Global Insight economist

Apartment and Single Family Housing Rental Costs

According to Zillow.com, the median rent price for a single family home in the United States is currently $1,499 per month ($1.10 per square foot). The median home value is $178,700, up 4.9% over the past year (Zillow predicts that home values will rise another 2.6% over the next year).

Late 2014, The Wall Street Journal published that apartment rents had risen nationally for 23 straight quarters and were over 15% higher than they were at the end of the recession in 2009.

MyApartmentMap.com keeps an ongoing list of average apartments rents, updated daily from hundreds of thousands of apartment listings. As of early March 2015, MyApartmentMap’s apartment rents by bedroom in the United States is as follows:

Apartment Rents by Bedroom | MyApartmentMap.com

At ALE Hotel Solutions, we help our customers to attain lower, optimum rates due to our long-term relationships with hotels and landlords throughout the United States and Canada. Please contact us to learn more about our temporary housing services or to register your hotel and available housing.

Other relevant and interesting facts…

Reuters.com:

• Homeownership rates hit a 20-year low in February 2015 (seasonally adjusted rates fell to 63.9%, the lowest since Q3 1994)
• Homeownership dropped in all four regions (Northeast, Midwest, South, West) in Q4 2014 – across all age groups, with the exception of 45-54-year-olds

National Apartment Association:

Millennials prefer to rent, as personal finances and lifestyle are key influencers on their spending:

• Many have student loans they are trying to pay off
• Recession-laden job market
• Tend to marry and have children later in life

Photo credit: ©iStock.com/davidp