The national median rent dropped 0.5% in September, according to the October report from Apartment List. 80 of the nation’s 100 largest cities saw rents fall in September, in line with the broader national seasonal trend.
The national median rent now stands at $1,405, and “we’re likely to see that number continue to dip modestly through the remainder of the year,” the Apartment List research team writes in the report.
The research team’s analysis shows “the seasonal declines in rent prices that take place during the fall and winter have been steeper than usual, and seasonal increases of the spring and summer have been milder.
“As a result, apartments are on average slightly cheaper today than they were one year ago. Year-over-year rent growth nationally currently stands at -0.7 percent and has now been in negative territory for over a year and a half. Despite this, the national median rent is still more than $200 per month higher than it was just a few years ago,” the research shows.
Apartment vacancies remain elevated
Vacancies have been opening up steadily for over two years, the report says.
As of September, “our vacancy index sits at 6.7 percent, the highest level since August 2020. And there’s good reason to expect that it could rise even further during the remainder of the year.”
New supply driving falling rents in Sun Belt markets
The Midwest and Northeast are maintaining and growing rents in some cases as steady rental demand is not being matched by supply growth.
In the falling rents in the Sun Belt, the Austin metro has seen the nation’s sharpest decline among large metros, with prices there down 7.2 percent in the last 12 months
Conclusion
While rental demand has bounced back a bit this year, recent signs of labor market softness could dampen demand going forward. “With this in mind, we expect that new supply will continue to outstrip demand into 2025,” the report says.
