In a sign of some normalcy coming back to the multifamily market, rents were up 0.6% in March. It's the second monthly increase after six months of drops, according to Apartment List. The national median rent is now $1,388.

However, the graph of apartment rates from mid-2022 when they first started to slide after the pandemic highs shows a still downward moving trendline. As the firm noted, "for the last two years seasonal declines have been steeper than usual and seasonal increases have been milder." Year-over-year rent growth has been negative since last summer. It's currently at -0.8%. "In other words, as the market has cooled, apartments are on average slightly cheaper today than they were one year ago. But despite this cooldown, the national median rent is still more than $200 per month higher than it was just a few years ago."

Out of the largest 100 metropolitan areas, 81 saw rent increases. "But on a year-over-year basis, rent growth is positive for only 42 of these cities," they wrote. "Many of the steepest year-over-year declines remain concentrated in Sun Belt cities that are rapidly expanding their multifamily inventory, such as Austin (-7.1 percent year-over-year), Atlanta (-5.3 percent), and Nashville (-4.8 percent)."