The absolute level is so low that it's hard to see a slight rise [[7.7%) as anything other than a positive sign of increased demand. According to the article, if rents in Detroit doubled, which is hard to imagine, it would only be in between Philly and Chicago which are both pretty affordable big cities. So it's hard for me to see an angle where this is "bad news."
It will also be interesting to see how much latent demand there actually is. Part of the runup in price has to do with relatively limited supply in the few desirable areas to rent. If e.g. the entire Book Tower, Stott Tower, new construction at Hudson's, and numerous rentals in the Brush Park development[[s) all come online around the same time and rents continue their current trend, that would be a much more powerful signal. But they might not.
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