The Market with the Highest Rent Rate in the Country is…
If you think of the most expensive rental markets in the country, several cities come to mind. New York, San Francisco, Miami, Los Angeles, Seattle, and Washington DC, are probably among them. What if I told you where there was a region with average rents almost 24% higher than any of those cities for comparable living space? You may now be trying to identify any large markets I had left out. You won’t find one— you probably won’t be able to even find the most expensive rental market on a map.
Williston, ND holds the title for the most expensive rents in the country; not income to rent rate ratio, dollar for dollar it costs more than $500/month more than the #2 most expensive rental market, San Francisco, CA. Residents of San Francisco flock there for the views, the food, the community, and access to high-tech jobs and industries. Residents of Williston flock there for the oil. The black gold of the area has homeowners and developers seeing gold. They cannot produce housing fast enough to support the demand sending prices through the roof. Population has doubled in the last three years, with about 15 new residents moving to the once sleepy town area EVERY DAY for three years. According to Zillow (www.zillow.com) there are five rentals available in the town, ranging from a 240sf trailer for $1400/month, to an 1,100sf apartment renting for 2,700/month.
According to Pam Winter, Apartment Guide’s Regional Sales Executive for North Dakota “A lot of the management companies have long-term projects projected, as long as the demand and infrastructure are there,” she said. “Projects that will be 300 units by the end of this year are looking to be 800 if it continues to boom. Currently I have not seen many concessions, and one of the developers raised his rent in January.” It appears that this community will continue to boom as long as the oil keeps flowing and the housing supply can meet (or at least accommodate) the demand.