Jersey City Rental Marketing Trend Report - June 7th, 2021

The Jersey City Rental Market Trend Report analyzes four key data points: active listing growth, renter lead growth, average renter leads per property, and the average rent price for two-bedroom listings.

• Active Listings – Our first data set is the month-over-month change in the total number of active rental listings advertised on the TurboTenant platform. Factors such as seasonality will impact this number, with the rental season peaking January through August. Due to the pandemic, eviction moratoriums, and stay-at-home orders, more month over month fluctuations were reported in nearly every market we analyze. Traditionally, this data point helps us gauge the rental supply in each market and provides a more in-depth seasonality analysis. Through the lens of 2020, inconsistencies in baselines were noted. As we compare 2021 to 2020, we will work to glean insights into if and when the rental market is beginning to normalize and mirror moving and inventory trends of years past.
• Renter Leads – Our second data set is the month-over-month change in the total number of renter inquiries to a TurboTenant property listing. This data point is the demand side of our supply data point above.
• Average Number of Renter Leads Per Property – Our third data point brings together the first two to give us a better understanding of the competitive landscape in each location. We compare the total number on a month over month basis.
• Average Rent Price – Our fourth data point is the average rent price for a two-bedroom listing. Our analysis begins in January of 2020 and will continue throughout 2021. We want to understand how factors such as outmigration, changes in remote work and school, and eviction moratoriums impact rent prices in any given market.

Jersey City Rental Market Trend Analysis

Active Listings

In the first quarter of 2020, active listings reported for Jersey City followed normal seasonal trends – January and February posted big jumps month-over-month, at 61% and 93%. March posted a slight decline of 11%, followed by another steep decline in April of 40%, which was in line with other cities as stay at home and shut down orders began to take effect. Inventory continued to wane for a few months and then spiked again in August, which was on-trend seasonally. December was down nearly 45%, which is also on-trend seasonally. The first five months of 2021 have been trending high with 66%, 22%, 20%, 5%, and 14%.

Renter Leads and Average Leads Per Property

Demand on the renter side has experienced similar volatility throughout 2020 and into 2021. We saw the most demand in January of 2020, with 39 leads per property on average. After a double-digit dip for the following three months, June bottomed out at seven leads per property. Moving into 2021, demand stayed in the double digits until May, which reported only nine average leads – a significant drop.

Average Rent

Year-over-year, the average rent amount for a two-bedroom listing has held steady. A sharp decrease of roughly $200 was reported in January. Average rent was trending up, April and May of 2020 had the highest average rent, with demand remaining steady. May and June of 2021 have both seen about $100 decrease compared to last year.

We will continue to update this data every month. If you have data requirements that are outside the scope of this article, please email [email protected]. We have ongoing data collection and are happy to supply another data set if it is available. Check out all of our COVID-19 landlord resources here.

If you are in the process of filling your properties, TurboTenant can help streamline your rental process with easy and free online rental applications as well as thorough tenant screening so you can find the best renter for your property.