ApartmentAdvisor National Rent Report

This month’s report focuses on three key findings:

1. The most expensive cities are seeing substantial rent drops, MoM and YoY.
2. While the Northeast tends to lead the pack in price growth, it is seeing some rare rent relief in its priciest cities.
3. The once white-hot Bay Area has benefited from stable rent prices through 2024.

The National Picture: Some of the Most Expensive Cities Are Seeing the Biggest Rent Declines

There’s a trend among the more expensive cities on our list: They’re experiencing rent relief, while the months-long rent squeeze that we’ve been tracking over the last year continues in many so-called havens of affordability like the Midwest. Out of the top 10 most expensive cities to rent, all but three (Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, CA, and Miami, FL) saw rent decreases. And luckily, the three that did see price increases MoM are all down YoY.

Out of the 20 cities that saw the biggest rent drops MoM, six have rent prices above the national median for a one-bedroom apartment ($1,569). When that’s expanded to all 41 cities that saw rent drops this month, the number of above-median cities increases to eight. Only 11 of these 41 cities saw year-over-year increases; the rest saw major decreases above 1% YoY, with 6 cities (Pittsburgh, PA; Raleigh, NC; Orlando, FL; Austin, TX; and Colorado Springs, CO) in the the double digits.

Regional Spotlight: Major Northeastern Cities Are Seeing Rare Rent Relief

The Northeast has the highest average rent price ($1,839 for a one-bedroom apartment) out of any region in the U.S., closely followed by the Pacific region ($1,813). The region’s cities tend to be small, compact, and historic — without a lot of room for new construction — while also being highly desirable due to their entertainment and economic opportunities, so prices run high. New York City, NY, Jersey City, NJ, and Boston, MA — the three most expensive cities in the Northeast and three of the four most expensive cities to rent in the country — are prime examples. In a recent study on renter-friendly cities in the U.S., all three found themselves in the bottom half of the list for exactly those reasons.

However, despite their general unfriendliness to renters, there is some rare rent relief in these three expensive hubs this month. Rent is down month over month in each city, though to varying degrees: 2.9% in NYC, 1.8% in Boston, and 0.2% in Jersey City.

Pittsburgh (-8%) and Philadelphia, PA (-0.4%) also saw rent decreases when compared to this time last month. The only outliers are Hartford, CT (+4.7% MoM) and Providence, RI (+5.5% MoM).

Deep Dive: The Steady Rent Prices of the Bay Area

Like most rental markets in the U.S., the three Bay Area cities that we track — Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose — all saw rent hikes in the summer of ’22, with San Jose’s being the most substantial (from a median one-bedroom monthly rent price of $2,116 in May ’22 to $2,681 in June). This was followed by a year of steady decreases, another national trend. 

Now, the area is finally experiencing some price stability, making it easier for renters to predict how much they can expect to pay for a one-bedroom apartment. Rent has been relatively flat for all three cities. In Oakland, the median asking price hasn’t gone above $1,950 or below $1,915. Meanwhile, San Francisco and San Jose saw slightly bigger seasonal jumps (from $2,898 in May to $2,975 in June and $2,197 to $2,354 over the same period, respectively) but sizeable decreases from June to July, bringing them back on track for the year. The median asking rent for a one-bedroom rental property in each city right now is less than $60 more expensive than it was in January of this year — a small bump for cities used to much larger rent increases. This could be in part due to less migration into the Bay Area and more exodus out of it; S.F. saw more people leaving than coming in each year from 2019 to 2023 after nearly a decade of steady population growth, a side effect of the pandemic and rise of remote work.