- Nationwide, rent prices climbed 0.7% year over year to $1,654 – the third consecutive month of increases and just below the record high
- Residents in Virginia Beach, Cincinnati, and Washington, D.C. saw the largest increases
- Renters in Austin, Jacksonville, and San Diego saw some relief
National rental market snapshot
The median U.S. asking rent rose 0.7% year over year in June to $1,654, inching closer to the $1,700 record high. This is the third consecutive increase following 11 months of decreases. Demand from young renters and difficult homebuying conditions are the primary reasons behind the rising rents.
Rent prices could have risen even higher, but increasing rental supply in many metros has limited price growth. A large number of apartment buildings that were started during the pandemic housing boom are now hitting the market, which is buoying supply.
On the other end of the spectrum, rent prices are falling quickly in many Sun Belt metros, especially Austin and Jacksonville. A surplus of supply and cooling demand are the primary reasons.
June 2024: U.S. metros where rents are rising
| U.S. metro area | Year-over-year change in median asking rent | Median asking rent |
| Virginia Beach, VA | 12.9% | $1,615 |
| Cincinnati, OH | 12.2% | $1,385 |
| Washington, D.C. | 11.9% | $2,099 |
| Chicago, IL | 11.3% | $1,778 |
| Baltimore, MD | 10.7% | $1,650 |
| Minneapolis, MN | 9.4% | $1,662 |
| Houston, TX | 8.0% | $1,290 |
| Boston, MA | 7.6% | $2,873 |
| Indianapolis, IN | 7.1% | $1,450 |
| New York, NY | 5.8% | $3,025 |
Why are rents rising in these metros?
Rent prices are continuing to stay hot in some historically affordable metros, largely because they haven’t built as many new apartments. So, as more people search for affordability, demand starts to outpace supply, which raises prices. The Midwest, in particular, is the most affordable region to live in and has seen consistent price growth.
June 2024: U.S. metros where rents are falling
| U.S. metro area | Year-over-year change in median asking rent | Median asking rent |
| Austin, TX | -12.6% | $1,485 |
| Jacksonville, FL | -12.4% | $1.494 |
| San Diego, CA | -11.4% | $2,730 |
| San Francisco, CA | -6.1% | $2,737 |
| Tampa, FL | -6.0% | $1,750 |
| Orlando, FL | -4.8% | $1,780 |
| Seattle, WA | -4.6% | $2,094 |
| Nashville, TN | -4.2% | $1,602 |
| Phoenix, AZ | -4.1% | $1,539 |
| Los Angeles, CA | -3.9% | $2,796 |
Why are rents falling in these metros?
One reason rent prices are falling in these metros is because of an abundance of supply. Many popular metros built a lot of new apartments in the past few years in an effort to meet demand. Austin, for example, the metro that saw the largest year-over-year drop in asking rents this month, issued more multifamily building permits (per 10,000 people) than anywhere else in the country from 2021-2023.
In some of the most popular pandemic hotspots, increased rental supply is even leaving some newly-built apartments unfilled, leading to competition among property managers.
Rents may also be falling in these areas because they rose too quickly during the pandemic, causing some residents to get priced out. Now, they’re starting to come back down. In Tampa, for example, rents surged as much as 37.8% year over year in 2022, more than twice the nationwide average at the time.
Methodology
Data comes from a report published on Redfin, our parent company. Asking rent figures in this report cover newly listed units in buildings with five or more units. The median is calculated based on a rolling three-month period. For example, the median asking rent for June 2024 covers rentals that were listed on Rent. and Redfin during the three months ending June 30, 2024.
Metro-level data in this report covers 33 of the 50 most populous U.S. metropolitan areas. National figures are based on data for the entire U.S.
Asking rents reflect the current costs of new leases. In other words, the amount shown as the median asking rent is not the median of what all renters are paying, but the median asking price of apartments available for rent.