Snapshots
Chicago’s Class A apartments – resilience during the last downturn
Despite the recession’s impacts, Chicago did not fall as far and recovered more quickly than most major markets
July 21, 2020
Occupancy decline (peak - trough) | 2.1 average percentage point decline
Effective rent losses (peak - trough) | 6.4% average decline
Rent growth (trough - current) | 27.5% average rent rebound
- In the last cycle, Chicago’s Class A occupancy peaked at 92 percent. That was at the end of 2007
- The Great Recession resulted in 266,000 Chicago jobs lost between 2007 and 2009, or 5.6 percent of the job base
- This slowdown resulted in occupancy declining over the next quarter to hit 89.7 percent at the beginning of 2008
- This 2.3-point drop was in line with most markets and not as serious as what Seattle, Phoenix, or the Bay Area saw
- These softer Chicago conditions did cause effective Class A rents to retrench. It took 6 quarters for Chicago to hit bottom, compared to 7 to 13 quarters for several major markets.
- From this peak to trough, Chicago lost 3.6 versus 6.4 percent for the major markets. This made Chicago one of the most resilient markets with only a $72 drop in monthly effective rent.
- It took until early 2011 for Chicago rents to recover to their prior peak. While 5 quarters may seem long, many major markets took 13 to 18 quarters.
- Led by its stronger economy, 2011 saw Chicago rents rebound before most markets. Since bottom, Class A rents are up 23.2 percent, only slightly behind the average of the major markets.
