Apartment List's national rent index fell by 0.7% in October, marking the second consecutive month-to-month decline and the largest single-month dip since the firm has been tracking rental data.

"A modest decline in rents at this time of year is consistent with the normal seasonal trend that we typically see in our rent index. But given how atypical the market has been for the past two and a half years, this return to pre-pandemic seasonality represents a notable shift," Apartment List's research team notes in a report breaking down last month's data. "Last October, rents increased by 0.8 percent month-over-month, as the market continued on an unprecedented stretch of record-setting rent growth which disrupted seasonal trends. In contrast, this October's record-setting decline marks a rapid cooldown which may signal that we're entering a new phase of the rental market rollercoaster. It's likely that rents will decline further in the months ahead, as rental market activity slows during the winter months."

Rents also declined in 89 of the nation's 100 largest cities in October, led notably by pandemic darling Boise, which saw rents slump by 3.5% in October. Other Sun Belt markets are also continuing to cool, including Las Vegas, Phoenix, Jacksonville, and Riverside.