On Monday, June 3, we published our monthly National Rent Report, highlighting national rent trend data as well as rent price data by state and by city. To create this report, we analyze rent trends in 100 major U.S. cities.?
Overview
In this month’s report, we explained a few key trends:
- Don’t let a seasonal uptick in rent price fool you: In most rental markets, rent prices are down year over year.
- Along the East Coast, we are seeing opposing rent trends from the north and the south.
- At the state level, only half of states are seeing are seeing year-over-year decreases.
National Trends
While rent trends differ from region to region, here’s what you need to know about rent prices on a national level:
Overall, rent price growth is slowing down in US cities.
- The national median price of a one-bedroom apartment (now $1,529) increased by 1.2% from April to May, and is up 4.6% over the last three months.
- However, it’s important to look at the bigger picture: Year over year, the median rent price for a one-bedroom apartment is down 2.7%. Two-bedrooms are down 2.3% YoY, followed by three-beds, which are down 0.7% when compared to last year.
Regional Trends
In this month’s report, we dove deep into trends occurring in a few specific regions:
The Northeast & Southeast
- When looking across the East Coast, the North and the South tell very different stories. Northeastern housing markets are seeing rapid rent growth, while in the Southeast, prices are steadily decreasing.
- In the Northeast, the most expensive cities continued to heat up. Rent for one-bedroom apartments in New York City, NY is up 7.5% YoY, and in Boston, MA, it’s up 5%.
- Meanwhile, in Atlanta, GA, rent is down 11.6% YoY for one-bedroom apartments. It’s the same story in Florida, where Miami (-18.8%), Orlando (-13.2%), Tampa (-11%), and Jacksonville (-8.8%) are all seeing significant slowdowns over the past year.
Rent at the State Level
- On the state level, the same regional trends hold up: In the Northeast, asking rent prices are increasing, while the Southeast is seeing a wave of rent cooling. The Midwest and Northeast are responsible for nearly all of the 26 states that saw rent increases year over year.
- The West Coast is following suit, also benefiting from rent decreases at the state level: Washington (-4.85%), Oregon (-4.83%), California (-2.43%), Nevada (-5.05%), and the rest of the Mountain West are all down year over year. ?
The Bottom Line
While rent prices are up month-over-month, this belies the bigger story — which is that housing prices are down for renters year over year. In most American cities, rent is down when compared with last year, with Northeastern and Midwestern cities driving increases for the most part. The same trends are visible upon zooming out to the state level. Year over year, rent is down in states located on the West Coast, in the Mountain West, and in the South.?To learn more about rent trends in your city and to see our methodology, read our full monthly rent report here.
