100% RENTAL RATE INCREASE IN ONE YEAR? – Don’t believe everything you read!

Rising Rental Rates

Formerly known and loved as “The Monarch of the Dailies” when I was a kid, The Tacoma hometown newspaper usually carefully checks out articles written by their staff before they are printed and sent out… but apparently the “fact checker” was down at the EQ Casino the night before the March 27, 2022 issue went out and just didn’t quite get to his job!

Let’s look at some of the “data” given in the article, shall we?

ZIP CODEAREA2021 INCREASE
98467University Place100 %
98390Sumner70 %
98465West Side Tacoma65 %
98372Puyallup/Edgewood43 %
98498Lakewood34 %

Average RENT INCREASE of the above 5 areas = 62.4 % in the last 12 months.

If this were true, then a home that was renting for $1,995 / mo. a year ago would today be renting for $3,240 / month… and that is just not the case! Doesn’t pass the smell test!

OPINION – If this information were a true representation of market conditions that I can guarantee you that the Wall Street Journal, NY Times, USA TODAY and many others would have published it pronto! But they didn’t and the reason they DIDN’T PRINT IT, is because, in my opinion, it is at the very least SUSPICIOUS and at the worst FALSE!

So how is it possible to come up with crazy numbers like these? Most likely these figures were arrived at by a computer, in a constant temperature windowless warehouse somewhere, “trending” data. Some of the other Internet real estate “know-it-all” companies do the same thing. The problem is that the process they use has little to do with what property managers like Red Roof Rentals know… that is, what things are actually renting for!

Now consider a small sample of more realistic data offered in the same article on other areas in Tacoma:

ZIP CODEAREA2021 INCREASE
98406Tacoma18 %
98402Tacoma14 %
98444Parkland15 %
98445Parkland6 %
98374South Hill11 %
98335Gig Harbor5 %

Average of these above 6 areas = 11.5 % increase in the last 12 months.

OPINION – Ah, this information most more closely aligns every other recent article analyzing recent year-over-year RENTAL RATE CHANGES in our area.

In my opinion, this information is most likely TRUE.

ANALYSIS – Obviously the high figures are outliers to a much larger body of data indicating a more modest rent increase. This is something that should make you go “hmmmm… !” and want to do some additional research on the internet to see what other sources conclude.

Granted, the local newspaper relied on data published by “SOMEONE ELSE”… a separate “RENT RATE INFORMATION” provider… but in these crazy post-COVID times it really is unprofessional to pass on (i.e. publish) such questionable data without some thought first applied to it.

CONCLUSION – Just because it’s ONLINE or in print in a newspaper or magazine doesn’t mean it’s the truth. Be like the professional property managers at Red Roof Rentals and QUESTION what you are reading at all times, and then come to your own educated conclusions.

Based on the properties that we got rented in the past 12 months, our data shows that rental rates have increased between 7-15%, not 30 – 100%. The amount of increase depended on the NEIGHBORHOOD, the presence of any UPGRADES and the GENERAL CONDITION of the home.