Asking rents climbed by $6, or 0.3 percent, in February, marking the first monthly increase in rents in five months. According to Zillow, the 0.3 percent increase is only somewhat smaller than the typical February increase of 0.4 percent, averaged over data from 2016-2020.
Typical asking rents at the national level now stand at $1,976, which is 6.3 percent higher than one year ago, but 0.5 percent below the peak of $1,987 observed in September 2022.
The steepest monthly declines in rent were in Cleveland (down 1 percent), Jacksonville (down 0.4 percent), Salt Lake City (down 0.4 percent), Richmond (down 0.3 percent) and Miami (down 0.3 percent). Rents rose the most on a monthly basis in Hartford (1.3 percent), Sacramento (0.9 percent), Chicago (0.8 percent), New Orleans (0.6 percent) and Raleigh (0.6 percent).