ApartmentAdvisor National Rent Report

1. Rent has peaked for the year in most of the country.
2. Short-term rent increases are predicted to increase in Boston as a result of the broker fee ban.
3. Rising rent in Wyoming is shedding light on rural housing crises.

National Overview: The summer rent peak has come and gone.

Nationally, the median rent price for a one-bedroom apartment remained the same from June to July and rent decreased in half the markets that we track. This signals that the summer rent peak, which typically occurs between June and July each year, has come and gone — and renters can expect lower asking prices in August across most of the country (with the exception of the Northeast, where prices typically rise through August). We predict that, barring any unexpected national events (like the COVID-19 pandemic, which dysregulated the rental market for several years), the national median will continue to drop through the end of the year.

Regional Spotlight: How will the tenant-paid broker fee ban impact Boston rent prices?

For years, renters in Boston and New York City have complained of the upfront costs of renting an apartment in either city. Unlike the rest of the country, apartment rental agents required a broker fee be paid by tenants on top of the average move-in costs. For New Yorkers and Bostonians, standard practice for tenants was paying 4x the rent upfront: first month, last month, security, and broker fee. Last summer, New York City enacted the FARE Act to address this costly issue. Starting in June 2024, New York renters were no longer required to pay the broker if they had not been the one to hire them, saving them thousands at move-in. This summer, Boston — the last market in the country with tenant-paid broker fees — followed suit. In Boston, the ban went into effect on August 1.

This seismic shift to the Boston market has renters, brokers, and property owners alike wondering: What will happen to rent prices? To begin to answer that question, we looked at NYC rental data before and after the FARE Act.

In the week immediately following the enactment of the law, rent prices in NYC jumped as much as 15% in the week following the enactment of FARE — reflecting the 15% broker fee that got shifted from tenants to landlords. However, when looking at the MoM changes, prices stabilized shortly after — with the median price across the city even lowering in accordance with seasonal shifts. There’s a good chance that Boston’s market sees similar results, with brief spikes followed by typical seasonal price decreases.

That being said, these are two notoriously expensive markets, and prices never stay down for long. In the Big Apple, prices are back up +2.3% MoM and +8.1% YoY, according to our data. In July, Boston’s median rent price for a one-bedroom apartment was down -2.7% MoM and unchanged YoY — but only time will tell how property owners react to this broker fee ban in August.