Comparing the impacts of COVID-19 on residential rental market across rental sectors: Evidence from city of Austin

The time evolution of average price of each rental property type since January 1, 2018. The trend lines are estimated using KLLR method with a Gaussian kernel of size 45 days. The shaded regions are 68 % confidence intervals. The black solid line is February, 252,020 when CDC indicated that COVID-19 is heading toward pandemic status. The dashed lines are the same date but in 2018, 2019, and 2021.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected rental housing prices, but previous research lacks comprehensive data across different residential categories. This study fills that gap by analyzing 48 months of closed rental listings from the Austin region’s Multiple Listing Service. It examines the pandemic’s impact on four types of residential properties, revealing disparities in its influence. COVID-19 deaths and local awareness positively affect rental prices for single-family homes, especially in suburban and low-density areas, while positive cases negatively impact condo and duplex prices. Additionally, social factors affect rental prices differently for single-family homes compared to condos during the pandemic. These findings help understand how COVID-19 and socioeconomic factors influence the rental market, offering practical insights for real estate agencies and policymakers.



Team

Junfeng Jiao, Xiaohan Wu, Yefu Chen, Arya Farahi

Data availability

The authors do not have permission to share data.

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