by Calculated Risk on 5/08/2020 01:33:00 PM

CR Note: People are still paying their rent. In an email, NMHC analysts note that the rent "payment level represents a payment rate of 98.1 percent compared to May 1-6, 2019"

From the NMHC: NMHC Rent Payment Tracker Finds 80.2 Percent of Apartment Households Paid Rent as of May 6

The National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC)’s Rent Payment Tracker found 80.2 percent of apartment households made a full or partial rent payment by May 6 in its survey of 11.4 million units of professionally managed apartment units across the country.

This is a 1.5-percentage point decrease in the share who paid rent through May 6, 2019 and compares to 78.0 percent that had paid by April 6, 2020. These data encompass a wide variety of market-rate rental properties across the United States, which can vary by size, type and average rental price.

“Despite the fact that over twenty million people lost their jobs in April, for the second month in a row, we are seeing evidence that apartment renters who can pay rent are stepping up and doing so,” said Doug Bibby, NMHC President. “We expect May to largely mirror April, when the payment rate increased throughout the month as financial assistance worked its way to people’s bank accounts.”

“However, we are in uncharted waters and will be watching this closely over the course of the month as millions of households will not be able to access unemployment benefits, and those who have may find that they are not enough to cover rent plus all the other financial pressures caused by this crisis,” said Bibby.
emphasis added