Rents nationwide posted the weakest annual growth in May since 2010, according to a new analysis released by RentCafé, a national apartment search website. The average rent in the country in May was $1,381 per month, up 2 percent year over year.
But that doesn’t mean renters are finding relief yet. Overall, prices in 16 of the 20 cities with the largest number of rental apartments climbed faster than the national average, according to the analysis. Rents in Orlando, Fla.; Las Vegas; Denver; and Los Angeles are between 4 percent and 6 percent more expensive than a year ago. On the other hand, rents in New York; Austin, Texas; Washington, D.C.; and Chicago have remained about the same.
Among the largest cities in the country, Detroit claims the fastest growth in rents, with an annual rate of 5.3 percent. It surpassed Las Vegas, at 5.1 percent. On the other side of the spectrum, rent growth was slowest in Brooklyn, N.Y., at -1.2 percent.
Smaller cities are gaining momentum in their rental markets due to growth in jobs and populations. The most significant rent increases in May were in Midland, Texas (35.4 percent); Odessa, Texas (35.8 percent); Yonkers, N.Y. (12.9 percent); and Reno, Nev. (10.7 percent).
Source: “National Rents See Slowest Season Start in Years, but Most Renter Mega-Hubs Maintain Upward Trend,” RentCafe Blog (May 30, 2018)
