Overview

1. In most of the country, the February rent thaw has begun.
2. In a few warm-weather markets like Albuquerque, there is little seasonality when it comes to price.
3. A looming insurance crisis has driven Louisiana rents way up.

National Trends

Rent prices have begun their annual seasonal climb.

• The national median price of a one-bedroom apartment (now $1,550) increased by 7% from January to February.
• As we reported last month, rent prices typically reach their all-time low in January and begin slowly climbing back up in February.
• Renters in the market can expect to see asking rent prices start ticking up month after month until the end of the summer when demand peaks.

Regional Trends

In a few warm-weather markets, seasonality has had little effect on price this year.

• This month, we decided to look at the rental markets that offer a rare relief for renters: price stability. To do so, we analyzed MoM and YoY rent price changes over 2024 and 2025 so far.
• Albuquerque, NM, Richmond, VA, Tucson, AZ, and Portland, OR had the least price fluctuation over that period of time.
• Seasonality affects almost every rental market in the U.S. to some degree, but these warm-weather cities had the most price stable rental markets in the country this past year.
• Albuquerque was the city with the least fluctuation; the largest MoM rent change in 2024 in was $15. Along with the rest of the country, Albuquerque rents spiked in mid-2022 as a result of the pandemic, climbed through mid-2023, and then began to drop until eventually reaching a stable point in January 2024. It’s a similar story in Richmond, Portland, and nearby Tucson.

Rent at the State Level

• Louisiana saw the biggest MoM and YoY rent increase in February (+15.8% and +20.6%, respectively).
• Louisiana has been facing a historic insurance crisis for years as a result of multiple devastating hurricanes.
• Insurance companies are becoming insolvent, leaving the state, or raising prices dramatically — and property owners, as well as their tenants, are facing the consequences.
• As insurance premiums double or, in some cases, triple, many renters are eating the costs on behalf of their landlords in housing markets like New Orleans and Baton Rouge.