Overview

• The most expensive cities are the ones seeing the biggest rent drops.
• The Northeast is having a rare moment of rent relief, especially in its priciest markets.
• For once, rent prices in the Bay Area are seeing some stability.

National Trends

Cities with more expensive median price points saw bigger rent

• The national median price of a one-bedroom apartment (now $1,569) increased by 1.66% from June to July and is up 0.2% year-over-year. However, some pricier markets still experienced some much-needed rent relief in July.
• Of the 20 cities that saw the biggest rent drops MoM, six have rent prices above the national median for a one-bedroom apartment: San Jose, CA (-5.2%), New York, NY (-2.9%), San Francisco,CA (-2.7%) Charleston, SC (-1.8%), Boston, MA (-1.8%), and Oakland, CA (1.5%).

Regional Trends

The Northeast

• On a similar vein, renters in the Northeast — the most expensive region to rent in the country — also benefited from price cuts in July. The average rent price across cities that we track in the Northeast is currently $1,839 for a one-bedroom apartment, well above the national median.
• Rent is down month over month in the three most expensive cities in the region, though to varying degrees: -2.9% in NYC, -1.8% in Boston, and -0.2% in Jersey City, NJ. 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).

The Pacific

• The Bay 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 in Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose in 2024, with the median one-bedroom rent in each city less than $60 more expensive than it was in January of this year.

Rent at the State Level

• On the state level, Iowa is in hot water. When looking at the median one-bedroom rent across the Hawkeye State, prices are up over 10% year over year.
• On the other end of the spectrum was Maine, where rent decreased significantly (-5.4% from June to July) at the state level for the second month in a row.