Class A Apartment Market Baltimore Metro Area: Q3 2020

11/2/20

The pattern continues in Baltimore with the suburbs remaining resilient despite the pandemic. Tenants are no longer looking for bells and whistles. Instead, they are prioritizing financial stability as the economic future is uncertain. The Northern Suburbs are doing exceptionally well with a 4.0% increase in effective rent, while they are flat in the Southern Suburbs. All submarkets in the Northern Suburbs reported growth. Harford County and West & NW Baltimore County are the anchors in the sub-area’s success. Harford County had rent growth of 6.7% over the year and a decrease of 120 basis points in vacancy partially due to its lack of inventory. However, Baltimore City effective rents decreased once again over the year and vacancy was up by 320 basis points.

THIRD QUARTER 2020 HIGHLIGHTS

  • Stabilized vacancy for the Baltimore metro area increased from 3.8% a year ago to 4.9%. Vacancy in the suburbs increased by 20 basis points to 3.6% while in Baltimore City, it increased by 320 basis points to 7.8%.
  • Average effective rents in the metro area are $1,764 ($1.85 per SF). Rents are down over the year by 1.0% metro-wide. Rent growth was strongest in the Northern Suburbs – up by 4.0%. The Southern Suburbs had a rent decrease of 0.3%. Meanwhile, rents decreased by 5.9% in Baltimore City.
  • Absorption pulled back slightly during the past 12 months to 2,332 units, a reduction of about 3% from the previous 12-month period. The decrease in Baltimore City was more severe with a drop of about 70%. The drop in Baltimore City was made up by the Southern Suburbs where there was a nearly 100% increase over the year.
  • The supply metro-wide is up 1.5% compared to September 2019. There are 6,910 unleased units under construction or planned for delivery in the next 36 months in the metro area after attrition. In Baltimore City, the 36-month development pipeline is down by 5.5%.
  • Per project lease-up pace for the 19 actively marketing projects in the Baltimore metro area currently averages 14 units per month, four units lower than last year’s number.


Delta Associates, the research affiliate of Transwestern, is a firm of experienced professionals which has been providing consulting and subscription data services to the commercial real estate industry for over 40years.

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