Rental rates in the United States dipped in December 2024 amid a jump in supply, with cities in Texas and Florida seeing the largest declines.
On a monthly basis, rent was down by 0.1 percent.
“Asking rents have been inching down because an influx of supply has left apartment owners with rising vacancies,” the brokerage stated.
“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 with the August 2022 record high of $1,700, asking rent is down by 6.2 percent. 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 2024 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.
Rents in some of these areas are coming back down after spiking to “unsustainable levels” during the COVID-19 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,” Redfin senior economist Sheharyar Bokhari said.
“While asking rents declined in 2024, they may not have much further to fall this year given that apartment construction has begun to slow.”
“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 stated.
