Ranking the Best Markets for Single-Family Rental Investors

A single-family rental can be a profitable investment—given the right conditions.

The markets ripe for single-family rental investment, based on ATTOM Data Solutions Q1 2017 Single-Family Rental Market report, are:

Clayton County, Ga. (23.7 percent gross rental yield)
Baltimore, Md. (23.6 percent)
Bibb County, Ga. (23.5 percent)
Monroe County, Pa. (20.6 percent)
Saginaw County, Mich. (18.8 percent)

The gross rental yields in the top five counties surpass the average, 9.0 percent, according to the report.

“While good returns on single-family rentals are hard to come by in high-priced coastal markets and in some other housing hot spots such as Denver and parts of Dallas, Austin and Nashville, solid returns on single-family rentals will continue to be available in many parts of the Southeast, Rust Belt and Midwest for investors purchasing in 2017,” says Daren Blomquist, senior vice president at ATTOM Data Solutions.

“Single-family rentals should continue to yield strong returns in many parts of the country going forward given the market undercurrents of low rent-ready housing inventory and low homeownership rates. Average fair market rents increased in 2017 in 86 percent of the markets we analyzed even while average wage growth outpaced rent growth in 67 percent of markets—a recipe for sustainable growth in the rental market.”

The markets with the most potential for high gross rental yields in the future, comparing average weekly wage growth to fair market rent growth, are:

Trumbull County, Ohio (17.2 percent)
Saint Lawrence County, N.Y. (17.1 percent)
Richmond County, Ga. (16.6 percent)
Broome County, N.Y. (16.4 percent)
Lucas County, Ohio (14.5 percent)

Millennials, in addition, are key players in the single-family rental market. The markets best suited for single-family rental investments for millennials, according to the report, are: