Rental housing market fundamentals have remained strong despite COVID-19, and a new study shows the 20 healthiest rental housing markets in the United States.

For the study, Mynd Management analyzed occupancy-rate growth nationwide over the course of one year, from the second quarter of 2019 through the second quarter of 2020.

Healthy rental housing markets

The three healthiest metros based on the highest occupancy-rate growth are Richmond, Va.; Louisville, Ky; and Fresno, Calif.

Richmond’s vacancy rate fell to 2.7 percent, a 10.9 percent drop since the second quarter of 2019. Louisville’s 4.3 percent vacancy rate in the second quarter of 2020 represents a decline of nine percentage points year-over-year. In Fresno, the vacancy rate declined 6.8 percent to a scant 0.7 percent year-over-year. A city-imposed eviction ban and suburban flight from the Bay Area to Fresno likely contributed to the metro area’s historically low vacancy rate.

“This is an unprecedented trend: The top two metros in our study are located in Appalachia, a region that traditionally flies under the radar for many real-estate investors,” said Doug Brien, CEO and co-founder of Mynd Management, in a release. “However, the health of this area isn’t surprising given the state of rental housing. In spite of the coronavirus pandemic, rental demand remains healthy and the national vacancy rate declined 1.1 percent year-over-year to 5.7 percent in the second quarter.