In early October, Zillow gathered more than 300 of its top rentals partners in Carlsbad, CA, to discuss best practices, the changing industry, and Zillow developments for multifamily. Here are four takeaways from the event.

We’re building a one-stop shop for renters

“There’s no national database for rentals,” said Zillow CEO Jeremy Wacksman from the stage on day one. “So we’ve set out to try to create one.”

With roughly 22 million multifamily listings and 26 million single-family and non-multifamily units in the U.S., renters struggle to easily see all their options. But the more we can bring all those listings together in the most-visited rental network in the U.S.*, the more time renters can save on what’s often a frantic search for a place to live.

“When we make the renter experience easier, we help them find their way to what they want,” Wacksman said. “The single-family renter gets what they need, and the multifamily renter, who knows what they’re looking for, gets to you easier. And ultimately that’s a more educated, more informed, more empowered customer.”

The rental market is in the third phase of a cycle

At the start of the pandemic, renters received more concessions to help them handle lockdowns. Asking rent went softer, and there was much slower growth. That was phase one.

“Phase two reflected an incredible ability to pursue more options,” said Zillow Chief Economist Skylar Olsen. “Remote work meant that renters could move out from their parents' place and live across town and still find that new job, or move across the country to a whole new affordable metro area. We saw incredible household formation.”

Rent growth spiked, growing at four times the normal rate. Concessions often weren’t necessary to entice renters. 

“But phase three is also a story about supply,” Olsen said. “We went from decades of underbuilding for that household growth to suddenly providing more new apartment buildings each month than we had since the ‘70s. That's incredibly impactful to the market.”

The phase translates to an increasingly competitive landscape for rental professionals in many markets, but Olsen had an optimistic message for multifamily marketers.

“In many ways, all this new construction was called forward by that incredible rent growth from phase two,” she said. “And you started building more and more apartment units, and today what that looks like is a lot of completed units... But now what we see is that the number of units under construction is starting to moderate. This insane new supply won't last forever.”

See more multifamily market insights at Zillow Research.

Zillow introduces a new partnership tier with added exposure and advanced market insights

“Signature isn’t just another level of premium,” said Sr. Director of Rentals Product MacGregor Hill. “This is a brand new package, designed to bring the visibility of and engagement with your listings to new heights.”

Signature, Zillow’s new multifamily partnership tier, offers distinct advantages for multifamily partners. Signature listings will display a special map icon that’s designed to catch attention. This standout icon will display among the increased exposure that’s now benefitting the entire Zillow Rentals marketplace. 

Second, we’ve redesigned building detail pages to drive the best performance possible for Signature partners. The pages offer a dynamic feature image, which always puts your best features front and center on each listing. You can also display your branding, an opportunity to truly own your space on the listings page experience. 

And third, as a Signature partner, you get exclusive access to advanced market reports. This year we’re combining Zillow's vast data sets with Moody's economic analysis to create Moody's Advanced Market Reports, which are packed with actionable insights. You’ll see competitive demographic info, sub-market analyses, vacancy trends, and more. 

Want more details on Signature? Learn more.

The median age of a renter is now older than ever before

The median age of a renter is 42 years old. That’s up from 40 last year. Since demographic changes tend to happen slowly over time, this is a notable jump. 

“This is a meaningful shift,” said Zillow Home Trends Expert Amanda Pendleton in a presentation of this year’s Consumer Housing Trends Report. “It means that renters are staying in the rental market longer, or they’re returning to renting as they age.” 

It’s partially a result of homeownership affordability challenges, which have made it more affordable to rent in most major metros across the country, said Pendleton.

These buying challenges may start to wane in 2025, though. Many renters still have their eye toward homeownership — 58% of recent renters surveyed for this year’s Consumer Housing Trend Report considered the for-sale market before settling on a rental.

Want more renter data? Get your copy of the Consumer Housing Trends Report.

*Comscore® MMX MP Media Trend: Zillow Rentals, Total Visits 2018-2021, U.S.