The pace of apartment rent growth in the US West has been lagging the rest of the nation since the pandemic. At the same time, the South, Midwest and Northeast have seen effective rent growth rise faster than the national norm, according to RealPage. Now the expected has happened: average effective rents in the West region are now running below that of the Northeast for the first time since mid-2015.

Typically, the rents in the West region are ahead of the Northeast, South and Midwest in that order. But over the last four years, rents in the West have climbed from an average rate of $1,831 in February 2020 to $2,204 in February 2024 – an increase of about 20%, RealPage says. Meanwhile, rents in the South, Midwest and Northeast have climbed approximately 29% since February 2020 and nationwide, apartment rents have climbed 25.5% in the four-year period since February 2020 to stand at an average rate of $1,806 as of February 2024.

It was in November 2023 that rents in the Northeast inched past the West to become the priciest region in the country. "That pattern has held since November and, as of February 2024, average rents in the Northeast ($2,221) outpaced the West ($2,204) by about $17," RealPage says. Meanwhile, rents in the South ($1,586) and Midwest ($1,408) regions remained below the US norm ($1,806), which is typical.