Tracking rents is important for understanding the dynamics of the housing market. Slower household formation and increased supply (more multi-family completions) has kept asking rents under pressure for the last few years.
More recently, immigration policy has become a negative for rentals.
Rents are down 0.4% month-over-month, down 0.8% year-over-year
The national median rent dipped by 0.4% in September, and now stands at $1,394. This was the second consecutive month-over-month decline, as we’ve now entered the rental market’s off-season. It’s likely that we’ll continue to see further modest rent declines through the remainder of the year.
Rent prices nationally are down 0.8% compared to one year ago. After gradually dipping further negative for five straight months, year-over-year growth ticked up slightly this month.
The national multifamily vacancy rate now sits at 7.1%, a record high for our index. We’re past the peak of a multifamily construction surge, but a healthy supply of new units are still hitting the market, and vacancies are still trending up.
Realtor.com: 25th Consecutive Month with Year-over-year Decline in Rents
In August 2025, the U.S. median rent recorded its 25th consecutive year-over-year decline. Rent for 0–2 bedroom properties across the 50 largest metropolitan areas dropped by 2.2% compared to the previous year, with the median asking rent at $1,713—just $5 lower than the prior month.
Cotality: Single Family Rents Up 2.3% year-over-year
Single-family rent prices in July 2025 increased 2.3% from July 2024, which is less than the 3.1% average increase a year ago.
“After a strong start to the year, single-family rent growth is clearly losing steam,” said Molly Boesel, senior principal economist at Cotality. “In July, we broadly saw weakening in annual single-family rent growth across metro areas and price tiers. The monthly growth rate came in at just 0.2%, well below the historical July average of 0.7%, and is a notable shift from the stronger-than-usual monthly gains recorded earlier in 2025. Even markets like Los Angeles, which had been buoyed by post-wildfire demand, are now cooling off. Chicago stands out as the exception, leading the nation in rent growth amid tight inventory and resilient demand.”
Real Page on August Rents: Annual Rent Growth of -0.1%
Softening fundamentals in the U.S. apartment market resulted in effective asking rents falling 0.3% in 3rd quarter. This was the first time rents have been cut between July and September since 2009, at the end of the Great Financial Crisis. In the year-ending 3rd quarter, rents were down a mild 0.1%.
Softening fundamentals in the U.S. apartment market resulted in effective asking rents falling 0.3% in 3rd quarter. This was the first time rents have been cut between July and September since 2009, at the end of the Great Financial Crisis. In the year-ending 3rd quarter, rents were down a mild 0.1%.
Rent Growth Stalls: The typical U.S. rent held steady at $2,007 from July to August. Rents are up 2.4% from a year ago.
Affordability Showing First Improvement Since 2021: Incomes rise as rent growth stalls. A renter looking to move into the typical rental would now spend 28.9% of their household income on rent, which is the first time renter affordability has fallen to this level since October 2021.
Rental Concessions Set Another Record: 36.7% of rental listings on Zillow offered a concession in August, marking a new high.
Rent Data
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