Over the past two years, rent prices have ebbed and flowed seasonally but overall have trended modestly downward, falling 4.8% below August 2022’s peak, according to Apartment List’s January national rent data report. Median monthly rent across the country dipped slightly to close out 2024, ending the year at $1,373 after declining by 0.6% or $8 from November.
This is the second straight year of declining rents, and the third consecutive winter in which seasonal discounts have been notably sharper than the pre-pandemic norm, said the firm. Despite this cooling trend, the typical rent price remains 20% higher than its January 2021 level.
Meanwhile, Apartment List’s national vacancy index continues to trend up slowly, currently sitting at 6.8%, the highest it has been since the start of the pandemic. An influx of new inventory since 2021, including the highest number of new apartment completions in four decades during 2024, has impacted multifamily occupancy. Despite a recent reduction in new building permits and projects breaking ground, the construction pipeline is nearly 800,000 units going into 2025.
Of the 100 largest cities tracked by Apartment List, 88 saw rents fall from October to November, but on a year-over-year basis, rent growth fell in only 49 of these cities. The steepest year-over-year declines are concentrated in Sun Belt metros that are experiencing rapid inventory growth. These markets include Austin, falling 7.4%, Raleigh, dropping 4.1%, and Jacksonville, down 3%.
In contrast, many large cities in the Midwest and Northeast are experiencing positive annual rent growth, said the firm. Cleveland has seen the nation’s fastest rent growth, up 5.7% year over year. Grand Rapids, Kansas City, Louisville and Detroit also posted fast rent growth.
The median time on the market for vacant apartments to lease in December was 36 days, up from 34 days in November, according to Apartment List. That represents the longest time to lease for any month going back to 2019. The nation’s softest rental market, Austin, saw a median time on the market of 43 days.