10 Renters Chase Every Empty Apartment in North Jersey

North Jersey remains a tougher place to find housing than New York City boroughs, according to a new national ranking released by RentCafe. The company’s latest analysis places the region at number 18 among the hottest rental markets in the United States. This position puts North Jersey ahead of Queens, which ranked 22nd, and Brooklyn, which landed at 26th. The study evaluates competition levels across 139 major U.S. markets using data provided by Yardi.

The core metric for this ranking is the number of renters competing for each available unit. In North Jersey, ten renters are currently bidding for every vacant apartment. This figure represents a slight decrease from the previous summer, when eleven renters competed for each vacancy. Despite this drop, the level of competition per vacancy is nearly identical to the rate found in Brooklyn. It is only one renter lower than the competition level in Queens, where eleven people chase each open unit.

Renters in Central Jersey face less pressure than their counterparts to the north. The study indicates that eight renters compete for each available apartment in that region. Consequently, vacancies in Central Jersey take longer to fill. Data shows it takes 53 days to lease an apartment there, which is twelve days longer than the average wait time in North Jersey. The slower filling rate reflects the lower density of competition per unit in the central part of the state.

Lease renewal rates remain high across the state, indicating that many tenants are staying put rather than searching for new homes. In North Jersey, 70.6% of renters renewed their leases. The rate is even higher in Central Jersey, where 79.7% of tenants chose to stay. These high retention rates contribute to the tight supply of available units, as fewer apartments are vacated for new applicants.

The study attributes much of the regional demand to spillover from Manhattan, which ranked fifth on the national list of competitive markets. Nearly 96% of apartments in Manhattan are occupied, a figure the report links to demand outpacing new construction. Nationwide, newly built apartments now constitute just 0.5% of all rental stock, a decline in construction that limits the supply of fresh inventory.

While New Jersey remains competitive, the national trend shows a shift toward the Midwest. Chicago has overtaken Miami as the most competitive rental market in the country. In the Windy City, approximately 17 renters line up for every available apartment, and vacancies are filled in just 27 days. Six of the ten toughest large markets identified in the study are located in the Midwest, including Grand Rapids, Michigan, Milwaukee, and the Suburban Twin Cities area of Minnesota.