Apartment rents across the nation have soared over the past several years amid the expanding job market, the primary driver of demand for apartments, and a continued preference for renting over owning among some people.

The Downtown Chicago apartment market has had a banner start to 2018, with a record 2,300 net units leased in the first five months of the year.

It may sound like bad news for the apartment sector: rent growth may stay relatively flat in the second half as vacancies and interest rates climb. But multifamily analysts insist the sector is going to remain strong over the long-term as investors search for properties to buy.

Multifamily Sales Continue to Trend Downward in City, While Suburban Sales Volume Sets New Record

The owner of one of the biggest apartment complexes in the Chicago area has refinanced the property with a new mortgage, pocketing nearly $46 million in the process.

The average apartment rent has grown a lot faster than paychecks for many households. As a result, nearly half (47 percent) of the households—20.8 million—who rent their housing in the U.S. spent more than 30 percent of their income on rent in 2016, the most recent period for which data is available.