Welcome to the April 2023 Apartment List National Rent Report. Our national rent index increased by 0.5 percent over the course of March, the second straight monthly increase and a slight acceleration over last month’s pace. This month’s increase is of a similar magnitude to the typical March price change that we saw in pre-pandemic years. After 2022 closed out with record-setting price declines, it appears that rental demand is rebounding in line with the usual seasonal trend.
Welcome to the February 2023 Apartment List National Rent Report. Our national rent index fell by 0.3 percent over the course of January, marking the fifth straight month-over-month decline. This month’s price dip was notably more moderate than the record-setting declines we saw from October through December. That said, January’s decline was still sharper than the usual seasonal trend, signaling the continuation of a broader cooldown in market conditions.
Welcome to the first Apartment List National Rent Report of 2023. Our national index fell by 0.8 percent over the course of December, marking the fourth straight month-over-month decline. The timing of this cooldown in the rental market is consistent with the typical seasonal trend, but its magnitude has been notably sharper than what we’ve seen in the past. This suggests that the recent swing to falling rents is reflective of a broader shift in market conditions beyond seasonality alone.
Welcome to the December 2022 Apartment List National Rent Report. Our national index fell by 1 percent over the course of November, marking the third straight month-over-month decline, and the largest single month dip in the history of our index, going back to 2017. The timing of the recent cooldown in the rental market is consistent with the typical seasonal trend, but its magnitude has been notably sharper than what we’ve seen in the past, suggesting that the recent swing to falling rents is reflective of a broader shift in market conditions beyond seasonality alone.
Welcome to the November 2022 Apartment List National Rent Report. Our national index fell by 0.7 percent over the course of October, marking the second straight month-over-month decline, and the largest single month dip in the history of our index, going back to 2017. These past two months have marked a rapid cooldown in the market, but the timing of that cooldown is consistent with a seasonal trend that was typical in pre-pandemic years. Going forward it is likely that rents will continue falling in the coming months as we enter the winter slow season for the rental market.
With the 2022 midterm elections in less than two weeks, economic issues are taking center stage. Throughout this year, inflation has been running at its hottest pace in four decades, and there are growing fears that the Fed’s efforts to push back could induce a recession in the year ahead. Skyrocketing housing costs have been a key component of inflation, and one that could constitute a wedge issue between renters and homeowners. Most homeowners are locked into fixed monthly mortgage payments, and for those that already owned at the start of the pandemic, quickly rising home values have been primarily experienced as a boon to their net worths.
The past two and half years have been the most tumultuous time for the rental market in recent memory. Much of that tumult can be traced back to the way that the pandemic has changed the ways that we live and work. In the earliest phases of the pandemic, many of the nation’s large cities saw sharp rent declines as a subset of renters with newly remote working arrangements moved away from expensive downtown areas that had temporarily lost their vibrancy, in search of more space in the surrounding suburbs. At the same time, widespread job losses also forced many workers to give up leases they could no longer afford.
Welcome to the October 2022 Apartment List National Rent Report. Our national index fell by 0.2 percent over the course of September, marking the first time this year that the national median rent has declined month-over-month. The timing of this slight dip in rents is consistent with a seasonal trend that was typical in pre-pandemic years. Assuming that trend continues, it is likely that rents will continue falling in the coming months as we enter the winter slow season for the rental market.
Welcome to the September 2022 Apartment List National Rent Report. Our national index rose by 0.5 percent over the course of August, half the rate of growth compared to last month. This marks a deceleration of the rental market that follows a typical, pre-pandemic trend. This year rents have risen slightly faster than they did before the pandemic, but significantly slower than they did in 2021 when rent inflation was at its peak. So far in 2022 rents are up 7.2 percent, compared to 14.8 percent at this point in 2021. Year-over-year growth has slowed to 10 percent, down from a pearl of nearly 18 percent at the beginning of the year.
Since 2020, rent growth in the United States can be broken into two phases. The first started with the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 and lasted roughly one year. During this time, expensive cities - particularly denser metropolitan ones - experienced a surge in vacant apartments and a sustained drop in rent prices. Meanwhile, in cheaper and more-suburban cities, rent drops were short-lived and price growth accelerated within months. We witnessed a steady price convergence, as expensive cities got cheaper and cheaper cities got more expensive.
Welcome to the August 2022 Apartment List National Rent Report. Our national index rose by 1.1 percent over the course of July, a slightly slower rate of growth than we observed last month. So far this year, rents are growing more slowly than they did in 2021, but faster than they did in the years immediately preceding the pandemic. Over the first seven months of 2022, rents have increased by a total of 6.7 percent, compared to an increase of 12.0 percent over the same months of 2021. Year-over-year rent growth currently stands at 12.3 percent, but has been trending down since the start of the year from a peak of 18 percent.
Household composition refers to the group of individuals who live together in a household, and how they relate to one another. Historically, changes in household composition have been fairly gradual and reflect cultural and economic shifts that unfold over generations. But the household shifts that resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic were rapid, and have had a dramatic effect on housing affordability.
Welcome to the July 2022 Apartment List National Rent Report. Our national index rose by 1.3 percent over the course of June, consistent with last month’s increase. So far this year, rents are growing more slowly than they did in 2021, but faster than they did in the years immediately preceding the pandemic. Over the first half of 2022, rents have increased by a total of 5.4 percent, compared to an increase of 8.8 percent over the same months of 2021. Year-over-year rent growth currently stands at a staggering 14.1 percent, but has been trending down from a peak of 17.8 percent at the start of the year.
At Apartment List, our research team is committed to providing accurate and timely data so that those interacting with today's quickly changing housing market can make well-informed decisions. For years, our Monthly Rent Estimates have equipped researchers, journalists, industry specialists, and the general public with data on the latest pricing trends. Today, we’re thrilled to announce the release of our newest data product -- the Apartment List Vacancy Index.
Welcome to the June 2022 Apartment List National Rent Report. Rent growth accelerated slightly again this month, with our national index up by 1.2 percent over the course of May. So far this year, rents are growing more slowly than they did in 2021, but faster than the growth we observed in the years immediately preceding the pandemic. Over the first five months of 2022, rents have increased by a total of 3.9 percent, compared to an increase of 6.1 percent over the same months of 2021.
Welcome to the May 2022 Apartment List National Rent Report. Rent growth is continuing to pick up steam again, after a brief winter cooldown, with our national index up by 0.9 percent over the course of April. So far this year, rents are growing more slowly than they did in 2021, but faster than the growth we observed in the years immediately preceding the pandemic. Year-over-year rent growth currently stands at a staggering 16.3 percent, but most of that growth took place last spring and summer.
Welcome to the April 2022 Apartment List National Rent Report. Rent growth is continuing to pick up steam again, after a brief winter cooldown, with our national index up by 0.8 percent over the course of March. So far this year, rents are growing more slowly than they did in 2021, but faster than the growth we observed in the years immediately preceding the pandemic. Year-over-year rent growth currently stands at a staggering 17.1 percent, but most of that growth took place last spring and summer.
Welcome to the March 2022 Apartment List National Rent Report. After a slight seasonal cooldown over the past few months, rent growth is back on an upward trajectory, with our national index up by 0.6 percent over the course of February. Even though month-over-month rent growth has moved back into positive territory, it remains substantially cooler than last summer, when rents grew by more than 2 percent per month for four straight months. Year-over-year rent growth currently stands at a staggering 17.6 percent, but most of that growth took place last spring and summer.
2021 was a year of staggering price growth on both the rental and for-sale sides of the housing market, but even before these recent spikes, housing affordability was already a major concern. Generally accepted wisdom holds that a household should not spend more than 30 percent of gross household income on housing costs (i.e. rent or mortgage payments) in order to maintain good financial health. However, as of 2019, nearly one-in-three American households spent above this threshold; these 36.5 million households are considered to be “cost-burdened.”
Welcome to the February 2022 Apartment List National Rent Report. After a slight dip to close out 2021, our national index ticked back up by 0.2 percent over the course of January. Even though month-over-month growth has moved back into positive territory, rent growth has still cooled substantially from last year’s peak. Year-over-year rent growth currently stands at a record-setting 17.8 percent, but over the past four months, rents have increased by a total of just 0.9 percent. Much of this cooldown is likely related to seasonal factors; it remains to be seen if rapid rent growth will return as moving activity picks back up in the spring and summer
