New Apartment Supply in Cleveland Continues to Deliver at a Snail's Pace

Cleveland’s apartment market has seen a lack of considerable rent movement over the past few years despite so little supply. Not much is happening in Cleveland in terms of new construction activity. But the market's performance readings (while still ahead of the national average) aren't exactly eye-catching either. Cleveland has recorded modest (though positive year-over-year) rent growth for the past 16 years now. Still, the market barely eeks out of the nation's bottom 10 metro areas for average year-over-year rent growth since 2010. Considering the markets that are also in the bottom 10 are either areas where the past three years have bogged down the long-term norm under a supply siege (Austin, San Antonio and Houston), or areas where the COVID era saw massive rent cuts (DC, New York and Los Angeles) during a short-but-meaningful window, then Cleveland's performance admittedly starts to lose some shine. Not to oversimply, but Cleveland feels like a bond in your personal portfolio. That 2% return might not excite you, but it's about as safe of a bet as it gets.