After a strong run, in line with nationwide performance, Baltimore multifamily is recalibrating and returning to historic figures, with both rents and occupancy contracting. The average rate was down 50 basis points on a trailing three-month basis as of January, while the occupancy rate in stabilized assets slid 1.2 percent in 2022.
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Metro Baltimore added 41,000 positions in the 12 months ending in November 2022, marking a 3.0 percent expansion. Like neighboring Washington, D.C., the city benefited from a gentler economic shakeup that most coastal markets felt when COVID-19 hit, and this helped it recover more quickly. The area’s unemployment clocked in at a tight 3.1 percent as of December, down 140 basis points in 12 months. Meanwhile, high-profile projects such as Baltimore Peninsula, Tradepoint Atlantic and the $200 million renovation of CFG Bank Arena moved forward.
A total of $2.9 billion in assets traded in 2022 in Baltimore, marking the second-best volume of the decade, on the heels of the record-breaking $3.3 billion registered in 2021. Meanwhile, completions decelerated sharply, with 996 units coming online last year and an additional 4,524 apartments underway at the beginning of 2023. With many markets returning to pre-pandemic dynamics and considering the supply and demand balance, Yardi Matrix expects Baltimore rents to grow 2.1 percent this year.
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