Overview

1. It’s officially spring, which means we are entering peak renting season. This means that rent is going up month-over-month, a trend expected to continue throughout the summer months.
2. Renting in the Southeast is cheaper this year than it was last year, despite the region’s popularity.
3. At the state level, the Midwest saw more month-over-month increase than any other region.

National Trends

Rent prices are heating up in accordance with renting season.

• The national median price of a one-bedroom apartment (now $1,511) increased by 1.6% from March to April.
• Rent prices are up across all apartment sizes, with studios seeing the biggest month-over-month increase of 2.1% — up to $1,575 a month.
• Forty-nine cities showed month-over-month increases in three out of four apartment sizes that we look at (studio, one-bedroom, two-bedroom, and three-bedroom apartments).

In many cities, rent is still getting cheaper — despite seasonal surges.

• Across the country, rent is cheaper this year than it was last year. Over half the cities that we looked at had year-over-year rent drops for one-bedroom apartments.

Regional Trends

The South

• Thirty-three out of 60 cities that had year-over-year rent drops were in the South. Twenty of those cities were in the Southeast, one of the fastest-growing regions in the country.
• In seven Southeastern cities (Raleigh, NC, Huntsville, AL, Birmingham, AL, Greensboro, NC, Atlanta, GA, Nashville, TN, and Orlando, FL), rent is over 12% cheaper this year than it was last year.

The Midwest

• The Midwest, one of the most affordable regions in the country, is seeing rent increases more and more often. Nine states in the Midwest saw month-over-month increases and 10 saw year-over-year increases for one-bedroom apartments in April.
• Wisconsin had the biggest month-over-month one-bedroom rent increase in the Midwest at 5.1%. Illinois followed with the second highest increase at 2.4%.

The Bottom Line