US Asking Rents Up Year-Over-Year in January, but Less Volatile Than Pandemic Years

On Friday, Redfin reported that the median US asking rent rose 1.1% year-over-year to $1,964 in January. This is the largest annual increase since March 2023 and unchanged from a month earlier.

Redfin notes that while rents ticked up from a year earlier, the larger picture is that rent growth is leveling off after surging during the pandemic and then rapidly slowing from mid-2022 to mid-2023. Year-over-year, rent growth has hovered between a negative 2.1% and positive 2.4%, a much narrower range than the prior year when growth was as low as 4.8% and as high as 17.7%.

While rents have cooled, they haven’t yet posted significant declines. Redfin says that’s likely because high mortgage rates continue to fuel rental demand, and because some landlords are offering one-time concessions like a free month’s rent or reduced parking costs to attract renters without having to lower asking rents on paper. Home prices are rising much faster than rents, which is also fueling rental demand and motivating renters to stay put instead of entering the housing market.

The median asking rent in the Midwest increased 4.6% year-over-year to a record $1,437 in January. Rents also rose in the Northeast—up 2.3% to $2,427—and the West—up 0.6% to $2,358. In the South, rents were unchanged at $1,637. The Midwest was the only region where rents hit a record high.