The median rent for an apartment in the United States has dipped 2.2 percent since August, pointing to a cooling of the country’s super-heated apartment market as demand slows and vacancy rates rise.
Apartment List, an online rental marketplace, observed a 1 percent decline in its national rent index in November, marking the third straight monthly decrease. Falling rents aren’t unusual around this time of year as rental activity tends to abate in the fall and winter; but the price drop since August is the steepest three-month decline going back to the start of the index in 2017.
By contrast, rents grew by 2.7 percent in August through November 2021, part of a record-breaking rental surge that contributed to soaring inflation last year. The national median rent jumped by 27.6 percent in 2021, Apartment List found. Despite the cooling in recent months, rents are still 23 percent higher than in January 2021….