Seattle Rents Edge Up Slightly Over the Past Month

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Seattle Rents Edge Up Slightly Over the Past Month

Seattle rents increased 0.2 percent in April, and are up slightly by 1.0% in comparison to the same time last year, according to the latest report from Apartment List.

Currently, median rents in Seattle stand at $1,340 for a one-bedroom apartment and $1,660 for a two-bedroom.

This is the fourth straight month Seattle rents have increased after a decline in December of last year.

Seattle’s year-over-year rent growth lags the state average of 1.7%, as well as the national average of 1.5%.

Rents rising across the Seattle metro

Throughout the past year, rent increases have been occurring not just in the city of Seattle, but across the entire metro.

Of the largest 10 cities that Apartment List has data for in the Seattle metro, all of them have seen prices rise.

Seattle Rents Edge Up Slightly Over the Past Month

Lakewood rents increased moderately over the past month

Lakewood and Seattle Rents Edge Up Slightly Over the Past Month

Lakewood rents increased 0.3% over the past month, and have increased significantly by 4.2% in comparison to the same time last year.

Currently, median rents in Lakewood stand at $1,180 for a one-bedroom apartment and $1,460 for a two-bedroom.

The city’s rents have been increasing for 18 straight months; the last time rents declined was in January 2015. Lakewood’s year-over-year rent growth leads the state average of 1.7%, as well as the national average of 1.5%.

Bellevue rents increased significantly over the past month

bellevue and Seattle Rents Edge Up Slightly Over the Past Month

Bellevue rents have increased 0.4% over the past month, and are up moderately by 2.6% in comparison to the same time last year.

Currently, median rents in Bellevue stand at $1,900 for a one-bedroom apartment and $2,370 for a two-bedroom. This is the fourth straight month that the city has seen rent increases after a decline in December of last year.

Bellevue’s year-over-year rent growth leads the state average of 1.7%, as well as the national average of 1.5%.

Seattle rents less affordable than other cities

Seattle Rents Edge Up Slightly Over the Past Month

As rents have increased marginally in Seattle, a few other large cities nationwide have also seen rents grow modestly. Compared to most similar cities across the country, Seattle is less affordable for renters.

  • Rents increased slightly in other cities across the state, with Washington as a whole logging rent growth of 1.7% over the past year. For example, rents have grown by 1.8% in Vancouver and 1.2% in Spokane.
  • Seattle’s median two-bedroom rent of $1,660 is above the national average of $1,180. Nationwide, rents have grown by 1.5% over the past year compared to the 1.0% rise in Seattle.
  • While Seattle’s rents rose marginally over the past year, many cities nationwide also saw increases, including Phoenix (+3.9%), Austin (+3.5%), and Denver (+2.0%).
  • Renters will generally find more expensive prices in Seattle than most other large cities. For example, Spokane has a median two-bedroom rent of $900, where Seattle is more than one-and-a-half times that price.

Methodology

Data from private listing sites, including Apartment List’s own data, tends to skew towards luxury apartments, introducing sample bias. In order to address these limitations and provide the most accurate rent estimates available, Apartment List  now starts with reliable median rent statistics from the Census Bureau, then extrapolates forward based on its own rental listing data, using a same-unit analysis similar to Case-Shiller’s approach, which compares only units that are available across both time periods to provide an accurate picture of rent growth in cities across the country.

Apartment List

Apartment List is a growing online apartment rental marketplace on a mission to make finding a home an easy and delightful process.

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