OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) - Apartment prices tend to fluctuate depending on what time of year it is. One expert on apartments says rent prices are higher today than they were last year.
"In June for Omaha, prices really are up, compared to where they were last year with all unit types, except for three-bedroom apartments,” said Brian Carberry of ApartmentGuide.com. “The largest increase that we saw was for a two-bedroom apartment, and that kind of follows the trend that we are seeing nationwide. There has been much more demand for larger apartment spaces during the pandemic.”
In a typical year, rent tends to be higher in the summer as that's when many people move.
"During the pandemic, that didn't really happen,” Carberry said. “A lot of people stayed put, either because they were not moving from state to state getting jobs, or were just not leaving their apartments, they resigned their leases."
Less moving had an impact on rent this past year.
"Last year we really didn't start to see an increase in prices until the fall in certain markets, and a lot of markets prices actually got a little more affordable,” Carberry said.
Over the past few months, things came closer to normal, causing rent prices to rise this summer.
"Since the prices didn't really go up last summer at this time, those price increases seemed a little bit more extreme in certain areas than they might have been, just because it's kind of making up for last year,” Carberry said.
With the current eviction moratorium now over, that is expected to have an impact on prices and demand.
"If a lot of people are suddenly out of their homes and there is suddenly more supply on the market, it could have things go either way,” Carberry said. “Either prices could go up because some of those landlords are going to charge more to make up for the rent they weren't able to collect. Or it's going to cause prices to go down, if it's going to put more supply, the demand is slightly less and it's a little bit more of a renters market. It remains to be seen."
Those who fear eviction due to pandemic-related losses need to apply for rental assistance and reach out to an attorney. Those resources can be provided for free from the Legal Aid of Nebraska.
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