A new follow-up study conducted by economists from MetroSight—sponsored by the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) and the National Apartment Association (NAA)—shows that some housing regulations increase the cost of rent, particularly for lower-income renters and those renting from small multifamily properties.

  • This report importantly builds on findings released earlier this year, revealing that overregulation can increase operating costs.
  • The research analyzed the impact of source-of-income, eviction, resident screening and state preemption laws on rent costs.

The study used two distinct and separate datasets, one from CoStar Group, which included market-level data from 391 metros between 2000 and 2024, and another from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS), which included 307 metros between 2005 and 2023.

Some of the report’s key findings include:

  • Source-of-income regulations increase rents between 5.2 and 5.3 percent, or about $876 to $1,104 per unit annually;
  • Eviction laws increase rents between 5.9 and 6.3 percent, or about $1,092 to $1,224 per unit annually; and
  • Resident screening laws increase rents between 1.5 and 3.4 percent, or about $252 to $708 per unit annually.

Access the full report here.