US Home Rents at Lowest Level in Nearly 3 Years: Report

A for-sale sign displayed in front of a home in Miami, Fla., on Feb. 22, 2023. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Rental rates in the United States dipped last month amid a jump in supply, with cities in Texas and Florida seeing the largest declines.

“The median U.S. asking rent fell 0.3 percent year-over-year in December to $1,594—the lowest level since March 2022,” says a Jan. 9 statement from the company. On a monthly basis, rent was down 0.1 percent. “Asking rents have been inching down because an influx of supply has left apartment owners with rising vacancies,” the brokerage said.

“Apartment completions surged 58.1 percent year over year to the highest level since 1974 in the third quarter—the most recent period for which data is available. As a result, the vacancy rate for buildings with five or more units rose to 8 percent, the highest since early 2021.”

Compared to the August 2022 record high of $1,700, asking rent is 6.2 percent down. Rents fell for all bedroom counts for the sixth straight month.

Among the 44 metropolitan areas analyzed by Redfin, Austin, Texas, saw the highest decline year-over-year in December at 16.3 percent. Next on the list was Tampa, Florida, at 10.4 percent, and Jacksonville, Florida, at 6.7 percent.

In the Sun Belt region, asking rents fell the most with the brokerage attributing the decline to a boom in housing construction.

In addition, rents in some of these areas are coming back down after spiking to “unsustainable levels” during the pandemic period.

“We’re kicking off 2025 in a renter’s market, with many renters finding that apartments cost less than a year ago—especially in the Sun Belt,” said Redfin Senior Economist Sheharyar Bokhari.

“While asking rents declined in 2024, they may not have much further to fall this year given that apartment construction has begun to slow.”

According to a Dec. 12 report from real estate marketplace Zillow, rent growth was “fairly soft” last year, a trend that is expected to continue in the first half of this year as well.

“However, the number of new apartment permits has drawn back dramatically, meaning the heights hit this year [2024] are likely to fade into the rearview mirror,” the company said.