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 0.8% month-over-month, down 0.9% year-over-year
The national median rent dipped by 0.8% in October, and now stands at $1,381. This was the third consecutive month-over-month decline, as we’re now in the midst of the rental market’s off-season. It’s likely that we’ll continue to see further modest rent declines to close out the year.
Rent prices nationally are down 0.9% compared to one year ago. Year-over-year rent growth has been slightly negative for over two full years, and the national median rent has now fallen from its 2022 peak by a total of 4.2%.
The national multifamily vacancy rate ticked up to 7.2% this month, setting a new 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 colliding with sluggish demand, causing vacancies to continue trending up.
Realtor.com: 26th Consecutive Month with Year-over-year Decline in Rents
September 2025 marks the 26th straight month of year-over-year rent decline for 0-2 bedroom properties since trend data began in 2020. Asking rents dipped by $36, or -2.1%, year over year.
Cotality: Single Family Rents Up 2.3% year-over-year
Single-family rent prices in August 2025 increased 1.4% from August 2024, which is significantly less than the 3% average increase a year ago.
“Annual single-family rent growth fell to its lowest level in more than 15 years this August, highlighting a notable shift in the rental market,” said Molly Boesel, Senior Principal Economist at Cotality. “We’re seeing slower growth across price tiers and in many major metros. That said, not all areas are following the same pattern. Atlanta, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles continue to show stronger rent growth, with Los Angeles now only slightly above its pre-wildfire level from January. Los Angeles ranks second among the top 10 metros for rent growth, suggesting that local conditions such as recovery efforts, limited housing supply, and regional economic factors can still influence rental trends even as national price growth moderates.”
National rent growth in multifamily units on Zillow eased to 1.7% over last year in September — the second-lowest annual growth seen since 2021. A weaker labor market is also contributing to slower rent growth in 2025, as mobility in the rental market tends to follow mobility in the labor market. …
Even single family rentals – which have significantly outperformed apartments in recent years – are feeling headwinds. September’s 3.2% year-over-year rise in single-family rent is the smallest annual growth since 2016.
Rent Data
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