The new face of housing is evicting tenants

The eviction rate — the percentage of renter households that faced eviction in the past 12 months — ranged from Minnesota’s 3% to 25%. The top 10 metro areas, excluding any individual state listings, were Greenville, SC (25%); Richmond, VA (23%); Charleston, SC (18%); Memphis, TN (17%); Indianapolis, IN (15%); Phoenix, AZ (15%); Las Vegas, NV (14%); Wilmington, DE (11%); Fort Worth, TX (11%); and Houston, TX (10%).

Of all pure metro areas, 18 had higher filing rates than their pre-COVID averages and 15 had lower filing rates. The range from highest to lowest was +46% and -48%. The highest five were Gainesville, FL (+46%); Nashville, TN (+31%); Fort Worth, TX (+25%); Jacksonville, FL (+19%); and Austin, TX (+18%). The lowest five were New York City, NY (-48%); Philadelphia, PA (-41%); Wilmington, DE (-32%); Charleston, SC (-31%); and Cleveland, OH (-26%).

The comparative figures can contain almost invisible considerations that can make the final figure seem more meaningful than it actually is. New York State passed its Good Cause Eviction Law, which went into effect on April 20, 2024, and which, in addition to earlier legislation, was likely to have an effect.

However, there is significant financial pressure on tenants, increasing the likelihood that people will fall behind on their rent and ultimately be evicted.

Using the government CPI data on primary residence rent, Not seasonally adjusted to better reflect what is happening in real time, the June 2019 rental CPI was 330,648. In June 2024, it was 418,820. The growth between the two points was 26.7%, or about 5.34% per year.

The growth was steeper, though. Compare the June 2021 primary rental CPI of 347,833 to the June 2024 figure of 418,820 and the increase was 20.4%, or about 6.8% per year.