Data: ABQ Rents Jumped Almost 10% Since Last Year

Unless you recently got a big raise at work, the amount of your income that you pay for rental housing in Albuquerque is about to go up when your lease runs out.

 Rental prices in the Albuquerque market rose a whopping 9.4% year-over-year in February, reaching a new high for the market. That’s according to rental market data from apartment finder firm Dwellsy.

 The median price for a single bedroom apartment in the metro area averaged $875 in February 2023. That’s up from $799 in February 2022, but that's nothing compared to a staggering 109% (more than double) increase in rent costs in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, says Dwellsy data. 

 Locally, increases have sent renters and advocates to testify before the Albuquerque city council and state legislature in pleas for rent caps or changes to rental laws to allow senior and low-income residents to remain in current units at current rates. Their efforts have mostly failed to gain traction, though the city recently announced plans to support the building of 5,000 new housing units this year.

 And there may be some silver lining in the data, says Dwellsy. Nationally, rent for a 1-bedroom apartment decreased 1% in February, contributing to a slower rate of growth.

 But a city of Albuquerque housing study conducted by the Urban Institute in 2022 “identified a gap of 15,500 units of affordable housing for renter households with extremely low incomes (at or below 30% [Area Median Income]). The 2018-2022 Consolidated Plan estimates that at least 28,240 additional housing units are needed that are affordable to households earning less than 50% of AMI.”

 Despite that need, Dwellsy only reports 464 available rental units in the city this week. Just 118, or 25%, were at or below that median rent of $875.

   Source: Dwellsy, rent expense by market report, March 20, 2023. Dwellsy.com