Occupancy closed out 2021 with another first.
For the first time ever, occupancy increased in the fourth quarter. Occupancy finished last year with a 30-basis point quarter-over-quarter increase, moving occupancy to 97.4% to close out 2021, according to RealPage.
“The last few months of the year are typically the slowest for the market, as renters hunker down for the holidays and the start of winter,” states the analytics blog. “This time frame follows prime leasing season – the cyclical bump that generally occurs during the 2nd and 3rd quarters.”
Occupancy has typically dropped 40 basis points on average in the fourth quarter during the past 30 years. The highest occupancy increases were in New York and Newark, N.J., near 100 basis points. St. Louis, Houston, San Antonio, Cincinnati and San Francisco were in the 70 to 80 basis point range.