US Apartment Rental Asking Prices Decline for the Sixth Consecutive Month in January

On Monday, Apartment List released its latest National Rent Report. The national rent index saw its sixth consecutive month-over-month decline, falling 0.2% in January. Year-over-year growth remains negative at 0.5%, although it is slowly inching back toward positive territory. In dollar terms, the national median monthly rent now stands at $1,370—down $3 from last month and $7 from January 2024.

Since the second half of 2022, rent prices have experienced typical seasonal fluctuations, though the overall trend has been modestly downward. After a period of record-setting rent growth in 2021 and the first half of 2022, the national median rent has fallen 5%—or $72 per month—below its August 2022 peak. Despite this cooldown, the typical rent price remains nearly 20% higher than it was in January 2021.

On the supply side, the national vacancy index ticked up to 6.9% in January, marking the highest reading in the monthly data series, which dates back to early 2017. Following a historic tightening in 2021, multifamily occupancy has gradually eased over the past three years amid an influx of new inventory. In 2024, the largest number of new apartment completions since the mid-1980s was recorded, and with nearly 800,000 units still in the construction pipeline, the supply boom is expected to continue into 2025.