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Author: Mark Ainely | Partner GC Realty & Development & Co-Host Straight Up Chicago Investor Podcast
It’s one of the most common debates among Chicago real estate investors: which property type gives you the most stable tenants? Everyone has an opinion. We have the data.
In 2025, we tracked 1,019 lease expirations across single-family homes, condos and townhouses, and multi-family buildings throughout the Chicago metro area. When we broke the renewal rates down by property type, the results told a clear story, and a few surprises.
The Numbers
Single-Family: 76.5% renewal rate (182 renewed out of 238 leases)
Multi-Family: 69.6% renewal rate (447 renewed out of 642 leases)
Condo/Townhouse: 69.2% renewal rate (153 renewed out of 221 leases)
Single-family tenants renewed at the highest rate by a meaningful margin, nearly 7 percentage points above both condos and multi-family. What’s even more interesting is that condos and multi-family came in almost identical, despite being very different products.
The Property Type Matters, But Screening Matters More
No matter what you own, single-family, condo, or multi-unit, your results depend on who you place. Our Mastering Tenant Screening Guide shows you how to attract and approve residents who stay longer and take care of your property.
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https://www.gcrealtyinc.com/chicago-tenant-screening-mastery-guide
Why Single-Family Tenants Stay
The 76.5% renewal rate for single-family homes isn’t a fluke, it reflects who’s renting these properties and what’s at stake when they consider moving.
Single-family tenants tend to be more established. Many are families with kids enrolled in local schools, and uprooting mid-school-year, or even between school years, is a major disruption. They’ve often put down roots in a neighborhood: they know the neighbors, they have a yard, their commute works. The switching cost isn’t just financial, it’s lifestyle.
There’s also a supply factor. Quality single-family rentals in good school districts are hard to come by in Chicago or the suburbs. Tenants in these homes know that finding something comparable, same neighborhood, same school district, similar size, is a tall order.
That scarcity gives landlords a retention advantage that’s hard to replicate with other property types.
The Rent Increase Surprise
Here’s where it gets really interesting. Single-family tenants didn’t just renew at the highest rate, they also absorbed the largest rent increases:
Single-Family: 7.6% average increase — 22.1% of renewals had increases above 10%
Condo/Townhouse: 7.0% average increase — 18.3% of renewals had increases above 10%
Multi-Family: 6.8% average increase — 16.7% of renewals had increases above 10%
Think about that for a moment. Single-family tenants are renewing at the highest rate AND paying the steepest increases. That combination, high retention with strong rent growth, is exactly what investors are looking for.
It reinforces the idea that single-family tenants are making a lifestyle decision, not just a financial one. When the alternative is pulling your kids out of school, leaving a neighborhood you love, and competing for a limited pool of comparable homes, a 7-8% rent increase is an easy pill to swallow.
Condo vs. Multi-Family: Why So Similar?
One of the more surprising findings was how closely matched condos (69.2%) and multi-family units (69.6%) were on renewal rate. You’d think a condo, typically a nicer finish, in-unit laundry, maybe a parking spot, would retain better than a traditional apartment. But the data doesn’t bear that out.
A few possible explanations. Condo tenants may skew toward renters-by-choice, professionals who can afford to buy but choose to rent for flexibility. That same flexibility means they’re more willing to move when it suits them. Multi-family tenants, on the other hand, may have fewer options and more price sensitivity, which paradoxically keeps them in place at a similar rate.
There’s also the HOA factor. Condo investors deal with association rules, special assessments, and restrictions that can complicate the rental experience. A surprise special assessment that gets passed through, or a rule change that affects the tenant, those are friction points that don’t exist in traditional multi-family.
What This Means for Your Investment Strategy
This data doesn’t mean everyone should rush to buy single-family rentals. Each property type has its own economics, and renewal rate is just one piece of the puzzle. Multi-family gives you scale and lower per-unit acquisition costs. Condos can offer strong cash flow in walkable urban locations. Single-family delivers the best retention and rent growth, but at a higher entry point per door.
What the data does tell you is where to set your expectations. If you own single-family rentals in good neighborhoods, your tenants are likely sticking around, and you have more pricing power than you might think. If you own multi-family or condos, a renewal rate in the high 60s to low 70s is solid performance, and your focus should be on the tenant experience to push that number higher.
Regardless of property type, the same principles apply: respond quickly, maintain the property, price to market, and treat your residents well. The property type sets the baseline, your management approach determines whether you outperform or underperform it.
Want to See How Your Properties Compare?
This is a lot of information you need to know if you plan to invest here in the Chicago market and it may seem overwhelming but real estate investing in Chicago is a team sport. Who is on your real estate investing team? Do you have a team? GC Realty & Development has a team of resources and we are willing to share all of our 20+ years of experience in both real estate investing and Property Management in the Chicago market. We will do this whether you hire us or not.
What gets me up in the morning and keeps me going 12+ hours a day of work is the ability to add value to Chicago real estate investors. If we connect you will here my say our goal of our company is to have value to have everyone we come in contact with and in return we hope one day you will hire us for our Tenant Placement or Property Management Services You can also refer us to someone you know that needs Tenant Placement or Property Management Services, or I will take a simple 5 Star Google review. We love the opportunity when we get all three from current and aspiring investors we get to help!
Reach out today!
Partner / Co-Host of Straight Up Chicago Investor Podcast
