When a licensed practical nurse had her rent raised by $400, she decided to go looking for a three-bedroom house in the Philadelphia area to rent for herself and her two children.

 But landlords repeatedly turned her down, writes Michaelle Bond for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The nurse could pay up to $1,400 a month, she always paid her rent on time and she even had a recommendation letter from her current landlord.

“Within two weeks, I’d shown my client 44 houses and applied to 30-something,” said Liora Israel, at eXp Realty.  “And that is not an exaggeration.” 

The nurse was a victim of a bidding war that has now spread from the homeownership market to the residential rental market.  She ended up losing to people who applied ahead of her and who were willing to pay more than the advertised rent.

One property listed for $1,200 a month got an offer from a renter of $1,700.

“It was nothing I had ever seen before,” Israel  said, “and it was crazy.”

Demand for rentals is strong, driven by a low supply of rentals, and rental bidding has been doing on since the pandemic started.

Read more at The Philadelphia Inquirer about the competitive residential rental market.