Rent prices across the nation saw another month of mixed changes. Nearly half of all rental markets in the United States saw either no change or a decrease in the median price for one bedroom apartments last month. Among the top ten rental markets, we saw declines in both of the most expensive markets, San Francisco and New York, a trend that continued from last month, and half of the twenty priciest saw falling rents, including cities like San Diego, and Miami, and Honolulu. The market for two bedroom apartments seems to be slowing down even faster, as prices fell in nearly 60% of rental markets.
The Zumper National Rent Index fell for the third straight month, as one bedroom units fell 0.9% to a median of $1,126 and two bedrooms fell 0.5% to $1,344. It certainly seems like many rental markets are slowing down as we head into the winter months where the number of individuals moving cools off with the weather.
Top Five Rental Markets
1. San Francisco, CA rents fell slightly this past month, marking the fourth month in a row that this trend has continued. One bedroom prices fell by 1.2% while two bedrooms saw declines of 2.3%. Prices for one bedrooms are down more than seven percent since last year, which is good news to Bay Area renters.
2. New York, NY saw its third straight month of falling prices as the average price of one bedroom units fell by 1.3% to $3,000, while prices for two bedroom apartments saw a modest decline of 0.6%.
3. Boston, MA held its spot as the third most expensive rental market in the nation this past month, even though rents were flat with the price of the median one bedroom apartment coming in at $2,250 and two bedroom prices at $2,600.
4. San Jose, CA after slipping out of the top five rental markets last month, San Jose nudged its way back into the top five after seeing a modest increase of 0.9% in one bedroom rental prices, while other similarly priced rental markets saw prices decline. Two bedroom rent prices, however, fell by 0.4% to $2,690.
5. Oakland, CA remained as the fifth most expensive rental market, although it was leapfrogged by its Bay Area neighbor to the South, San Jose, to claim the fifth highest average rental price. While rents for one bedrooms fell in San Francisco, they rose by 4.2% in Oakland. Two bedroom units, however, fell by 1.5%.