For the fifth straight month, rent prices have dropped, a new report found. It turns out that our unaffordable housing market, marked by a substantial rise in home prices during the pandemic and a mortgage rate shock that’s still playing out, is tipping in favor of renters as the rental market continues to soften.
In September, median asking rents in the 50 largest metropolitans dropped to $1,747, according to Realtor.com’s latest rental report released on Friday. That's down $29 from the peak in July of last year or down $5 from Aug. 2023. Still, rent prices are significantly higher than pre-pandemic levels, even if they’ve fallen on an annual basis. Nonetheless, rental affordability continues to improve, and an uptick in multifamily construction rates is largely behind falling rents, particularly for studios, one-bedroom apartments, and two-bedroom apartments—all of which have seen an overall year-over-year rent decline of 0.7%.
