July’s US Median Asking Rent is Just $16 Below All-Time High

Redfin reported on Thursday (8-10-23) that the US median asking rent was $2,038 in July, just $16 below the record high set in August 2022.

Redfin notes that while rents are just shy of their all-time high, rent growth itself remains lethargic. The median asking rent was up 0.3% year-over-year, compared with a 13.6% annual gain in July 2022. Rent gains have cooled over the past year due to an increasing supply, economic uncertainty, and slowing household formation, but big bargains are still often difficult to come by, given rents are at near record highs.

In the West, the median asking rent dropped 1.1% year-over-year to $2,451 in July. However, in the South the median asking rent inched 0.3% higher to $1,674—the smallest increase since 2020. On the other hand, median asking rents increased 4.6% to a record high of $2,533 in the Northeast, and they climbed 4.3% to a record high of $1,416 in the Midwest.

Adding additional background and his analysis to the report, Redfin Deputy Chief Economist Taylor Marr said:

“While rents are flattening out, it’s too early to say whether rent growth has bottomed. A strong job market, cooling inflation, and increasing consumer spending—which have decreased the likelihood of a recession—point to resilient renter demand. But there are still a lot of newly built apartments that have yet to hit the market, meaning rents may still have room to fall as landlords grapple with rising vacancies.”