Rent prices declined for the second straight month as rental and housing markets continue to cool, according to the latest data from Apartment List.
- M-O-M: The Apartment List national index fell by 0.7% in October, this is the second straight month-over-month decline and the largest single-month dip in the history of our index, going back to 2017.
- Y-O-Y: Despite the monthly decline, rent growth is still above the pre-pandemic trends, with 2022 rents up by a total of 5.9%, which is down from the 18.0% reported last year.
Everywhere. The drop in rents has been broad-based with rents falling this month in 89 of the nation’s 100 largest cities in October. Boise, Idaho saw the biggest decline with rents falling 3.5% in just one month.
- Pittsburgh, Seattle, Detroit, and New York City round out the top five sharpest month-over-month declines, with each seeing prices fall by more than 2 percent this month.
Vacancies. Vacancy rates reached 5.5% in October and have been rising steadily since bottoming out at 4.1% in October 2021. This, however, is below the pandemic high of 7.2% and below the pre-pandemic trend slightly above 6.0%.
Analysis. Apartment Lists research team believes prices will continue to fall but the insanity of the first part of the year will keep 2022 above the pre-pandemic trend. “In the winter months ahead, we expect rental activity will continue to slow and we are likely to see continued modest price decreases to close out the year. That said, we’re still on pace to end 2022 with full year rent growth exceeding any year from 2017 to 2020.”
