Sale prices may be on the up and up, but rents continued to decline—albeit slightly—in March for the eight consecutive month. According to Realtor.com, year-over-year prices fell 0.3 percent across all unit sizes,The median rent of $1,722 was only $36 less than the peak seen in August 2022 and was $313 more than in March 2019.
Austin, Memphis, Atlanta, Miami and Phoenix lead the nation with the largest rent drops. Austin, specifically, saw rents fall by 4.70 percent.
The median asking rent in the West rose by 0.4 percent from March 2023, the first annual increase after 13 months of declines. The median rent in Los Angeles in March was $2,869, up 1.6 percent.
“Rising shelter costs have been a major driver of overall inflation, a top concern for the Fed as it meets this week,” said Danielle Hale, Chief Economist at Realtor.com. “There is some good news for renters with prices falling in many parts of the country, especially outside expensive metro markets in the West and Northeast. However, we expect cost pressures to continue as interest rates remain high and would-be buyers opt to rent instead and keep demand high. New housing construction is needed, especially in major markets in the Northeast and West, to alleviate the home supply shortage. Softer rents in the South are evidence that more supply helps tame rising costs.”
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