March 2025 rents, 30-day and annual increases.

Tri-Cities residential rental markets are seeing more in the multi-family vacancies, mixed demand and higher rents. The U.S. outlook is for moderate rent increase and higher vacancies. Affordability will continue to be a challenge for many.

According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), multi-family demand in the Johnson City metro area is higher than the national average and the vacancy rate of 3.4% is lower. The median rent is $1,088.

Demand in the Kingsport-Bristol metro area is weaker than the U.S. norm and the 6.9% vacancy rate is higher. But that higher vacancy rate hasn’t resulted in a break for Kingsport-Bristol renters. The metro area median rent is $1,086.

Several large multi-family developments are underway in both metro areas.

There were 74 local multi-family sales from listings on local databases in 2024, down from 103 in 2023.

The single-family market is tighter than the multi-family market. Vacancies on 51,531 single-family rentals increased to 2.6% during the first quarter of this year. This time last year it was 1.9%.

Affordability is a concern for renters as it is for would-be home buyers. The target for housing cost as a percentage of an individual’s or family’s income is 30%. Anything above is considered cost burdened.

According to NAR’s Research Department, 19.1% of the renters in the Johnson City Metro area and 22.4% in the Kingsport-Bristol metro area are paying 20% to 50% of their income on rent.

Another 6.8% in Johnson City and 9.5% in Kingsport-Bristol are paying 50% to 70% on rent.

And 16.4% of the Johnson City metro renters and 7% of Kingsport-Bristol renters are paying 70% or more on rent.

While there is no single resource for local rents, a benchmark can be gleaned from Zumper research. The data is based on rental ads.

Categories: REAL ESTATE