2025 Rent Increase Survey - Milwaukee vs the US

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2025 Rent Increase Survey - Milwaukee vs the US

Marcus Auerbach
Investor · Milwaukee - Mequon, WI · Member since 2010 · 5k+ posts · 7k+ votes

Every year in May survey landlords here in Milwaukee about their plans for rent increases. (If you are local, I will share the results at the RPAWI meeting on May 19th in Wauwatosa). We have a chronic housing shortage here and the results can be felt in both the retail and rental markets. 

But we also see a lot of markets slipping into downturn mode, especially in the Sunbelt. Florida, Texas and Arizona see inventory in excess of 6 months, some cities have more than 10 months worth of supply, which is basically a complete 180 from a red hot sellers market to an ice cold buyers market.

How is this impacting rents, vacancies, turnaround times and ultimately: rent increases for 2025?

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Charles ClarkBusiness Member
Real Estate Broker · Milwaukee, WI · Member since 2020 · 306 posts · 209 votes
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@Marcus Auerbach
Thanks for sharing these insights! It’s fascinating to see how regional dynamics are shifting so quickly. With Milwaukee’s ongoing housing shortage, it’ll be interesting to compare how local rent trends stack up against those cooling Sunbelt markets. Looking forward to the survey results at the May 19th RPAWI meeting!

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  • Charles ClarkBusiness Member
    Real Estate Broker · Milwaukee, WI · Member since 2020 · 306 posts · 209 votes
    1y

    @Marcus Auerbach
    Thanks for sharing these insights! It’s fascinating to see how regional dynamics are shifting so quickly. With Milwaukee’s ongoing housing shortage, it’ll be interesting to compare how local rent trends stack up against those cooling Sunbelt markets. Looking forward to the survey results at the May 19th RPAWI meeting!

    [email protected]414-719-6090
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  • Caleb Brown
    Real Estate Agent · Kansas City · Member since 2018 · 4k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    1y

    For my area rents and prices has been steady. I looked at stats last week and the MLS for the Kansas City area saw a overall 2.49% sale price increase compared to April of last year. We have also seen a 9.8% increase in new listings. This tells me that Kansas City still has consistent demand. Homes aren't flying off the shelves in all areas but the A/B class suburbs are moving the fastest along with inventory for investors. When there is not multiple offers we are able to negotiate. The rental market is moving good too. If the home is priced well and marketing good for renting you can rent in sub 30 days. There are many people that are waiting or can't buy so rent is the next option. KC is a stable market so doesn't surprise me.

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  • Marcus Auerbach
    OP
    Investor · Milwaukee - Mequon, WI · Member since 2010 · 5k+ posts · 7k+ votes
    1y

    What I am seeing is also a trend that larger portfolios tend to be more disciplined about rent increases.

    Only 31% of landlords with up to 12 units are planning to increase rents on "most of their units".

    Owners of more than 50 units are more than twice as likely (72%) to increase "most of their units" compared to smaller landlords.

    The middle mom-and pop segment with 12-50 units is actually the most likely to increase rents!

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  • Paul Novak
    Rental Property Investor · WI · Member since 2023 · 192 posts · 144 votes
    1y

    One thing that I found interesting was on a recent BP podcast Dave was going over the top metro areas and home prices.  He discussed that out of the top 50 metros in the US Milwaukee home prices were up 12% last year.  That was the highest out of any metro area in the US.  Below is a link to the episode.  He starts talking about Milwaukee 14 minutes into the episode for those that would like to listen in.  I thought it was interesting and tied into data on Milwaukee.  It's about home prices, not rent prices but still information specific to Milwaukee.

    Housing Market SHIFTS: Price Cuts, Flat Rents, Buying Window Widens

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  • Marcus Auerbach
    OP
    Investor · Milwaukee - Mequon, WI · Member since 2010 · 5k+ posts · 7k+ votes
    1y

    Thanks, I had not seen that, but yes, it's correct. Redfin announced that in February, Milwaukee was the #1 market in the US up +20% but I would label that as a data glitch: last year Feb was quite low, which caused the spread to be bigger. When you compare Q1 for the 4 counties MWOW we are looking at 11% YoY. BTW - this is the median sales price, that does not mean that every house went up 11%. 

    We have a chronic housing shortage and it will take a decade to fix and improve construction - at the moment the gap is not getting smaller, so we will need to see higher levels of construction.

    The data does not show it yet, but I do feel the market softening a little bit: we are getting fewer offers on our listings. And more cash offers. I talk about this on YouTube. It makes sense that if the stock market is volatile and mortgage rates are high, it makes sense to repurpose capital.

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  • Alexandra Von Asche
    Member since 2025 · 1 post · 1 vote
    1y

    Great info @Marcus Auerbach! Thank you!

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  • Clare PitcherBusiness Member
    Property Manager · Milwaukee, WI · Member since 2024 · 162 posts · 97 votes
    1y

    Thanks for sharing! I am excited to see the results at the RPA meeting tonight! 

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