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Rent prices in Indianapolis and across the state of Indiana have been increasing throughout the pandemic higher than normal inflation. 

It is a trend happening nationwide, and some economists say if you are looking to rent, now is the time to get in on a good deal because prices could keep climbing. 

Local real estate broker Tamika Patterson says she’s seen the increase firsthand, and it may be because of the number of people looking to rent. 

“We’re in that thing with supply and demand. There’s not a lot of houses out here to buy. People are having to build. And they are having to wait long times to build, so in the interim, they have to go ahead and rent something within that time. And the rental people are kind of taking advantage of that cause they know it’s not a lot of houses out here for people to buy right now,” Patterson said. 

Throughout the year 2021, rent went up by almost 18% across the nation. Indiana saw about a 15% increase and the Circle City saw about 13. 

Recently from the time between Thanksgiving to Christmas prices dropped slightly across the country down by 0.2%. They went up slightly for Hoosiers by 0.% and 0.6 for the city of Indianapolis. 

“We have started to see things moderate a little bit, so I think that hopefully the worse of this really rapid rent growth is hopefully behind us, but it’s hard to say for sure. I would expect that rents are going to continue to trend upwards. I think the rate of growth is slowing, but I don’t think we’re going to see that reverse,” said Apartment List senior housing economist Chris Salviati. 

“I think the fact that rents are still trending upward in Indiana is I think probably a sign that the market is remaining a little bit hotter than other parts of the country. So, hopefully, things are starting to cool off, but we are talking about a really hot rent market right now.” 

Patterson says if you’re looking to rent, it is best to do your research. 

“We have a lot of people moving into town. Indianapolis is actually growing pretty rapidly. Of course, a lot of people, when they come in town, they want to live somewhere where it might be something. Like the Broad Ripple area, the downtown area, where things are going on and things are easily accessible. So just kind of pay attention to the areas. Those areas are obviously going to cost more to rent in.” 

Experts believe it’s hard to point out just one cause of the increase, but one thing might be there are a lot more people looking to rent and with real estate prices soaring, would-be buyers are being forced back into rentals.