Year-over-year single-family rent growth has held steady across the county for July, with a 2.8% gain, but that remains below average pre-pandemic levels. It also was a 0.1% decrease from June 2024, according to CoreLogic's latest Single-Family Rent Index (SFRI), which analyzes single-family rent price changes across the country and in major metropolitan areas.
Before the pandemic, single-family rent growth averaged 3.4% annually for nearly a decade.
Rents increased more steeply for high-end properties, up 2.9% year-over-year in July compared with a 1.8% year-over-year increase in July 2023. Meanwhile, low-end rent prices dropped 0.2% year-over-year in July, a notable reversal from the 4.2% growth seen in July 2023. Rent gains for detached rentals were 2.6% in July, while attached units saw rents rise slightly higher, to 2.8%, according to the report.
"On the surface, single-family rent growth in July could be characterized as 'average,' with the annual and monthly national changes roughly equal to long-term levels," said Molly Boesel, principal economist for CoreLogic. "However, a deeper look reveals that rent changes slowed at the lowest end of the market, dropping 0.2% in July from a year earlier. While this drop might be due to a strong year-ago comparison, it is most likely a welcome relief to renters looking for rentals in the lower-priced end of the market."
Of the top 20 core-based statistical areas (CBSAs), eight tracked by CoreLogic posted gains of 4% or more, and seven metro areas had median rents above $3,000. Washington, D.C., posted the highest year-over-year single-family rent increase in July at 6.3%, followed by Chicago with 5.6% year-over-year growth, Seattle with 5.4%, Boston with 5.2%, and Detroit with 5%. Austin and Phoenix posted decreases for rent in July, falling 1.1% and 0.8% respectively.