Which of the following best defines economic rent?

Economic rent refers specifically to the income that is generated from a property or asset beyond what is necessary to maintain that property in its current use. It is essentially the surplus earnings that a property produces after all costs, including opportunity costs, have been accounted for.

Choosing current market rent as the definition of economic rent is accurate because current market rent reflects the amount tenants are willing to pay for the use of a property at a given point in time, which aligns closely with the concept of economic rent. This market rent embodies the idea of capturing the income potential of an asset under prevailing market conditions.

In contrast, theoretical price may refer to a suggested worth based purely on analytical models or projections rather than actual market data. Investment return typically speaks to the broader performance of an investment rather than just the income from real estate, and comparable assessments involve evaluating similar properties to determine values, which does not directly relate to the concept of economic rent.