A rent growth trend is forming again. The May 2023 Apartment List National Rent Report shows the rent index increased by 0.5% during April, which is the third straight month of rent growth.
Year-over-year (YoY) rent growth at 1.7% is at the lowest mark since March 2021, and this is well below the pre-pandemic YoY average from 2018 to 2019 of 2.8%.
Rent growth witnessed in April prior to the pandemic averaged 0.9% from 2017- 2019, nearly twice the current growth.
Locally, 40 of the 100 largest U.S. cities have witnessed negative YoY rent growth. Monthly, rents increased in 69 cities compared to 83 the previous month.
During the past six months, Chicago had the fastest rent growth at 2% followed by Louisville, Ky., Boston and Baltimore each at 1% growth. Chicago and Cincinnati at 6% showed the fastest rent growth in the past 12 months. Tucson, Ariz., And Tampa, Fla., each witnessed 39% rent growth during the past three years.
Meanwhile, Seattle was the slowest metro for rent growth during the past six months at -4%. Phoenix, New Orleans and Las Vegas were each at -4% growth during the past 12 months. San Francisco at -3% was the only city with negative rent growth during the past three years.