National Rents Remain Relatively Stable

Overall, national multifamily annual rent changes remain relatively stable, according to Zumper’s latest national rent report. But New York City has seen big gains.

In April, Zumper’s rent index for one-bedroom apartments was down 0.6% to $1,486. The two-bedroom index was up 0.1% year over year to $1,843. New apartment inventory, expected to hit a 50-year high during the summer, will keep the averages calm.

“Changes to the national rent rates for the rest of the year, and likely into 2025 as well, should remain fairly modest due to the current imbalanced relationship between supply and demand,” the report’s authors wrote. “Although the demand for rentals in the U.S. is significant, as wage growth has outpaced rent growth for the past 15 months and the population in their prime renting years is large, it is still trailing behind the amount of supply that is becoming available this year.”

“It seems we are firmly settled into the year of the renter as people have more options now than in recent memory,” Zumper CEO Anthemos Georgiades said in prepared remarks. “With Class A buildings marketing concessions that include up to three months of free rent, free parking, and waived deposits and application fees, this, in turn, puts pressure on Class B and C buildings to price competitively as well.”

Averages, however, don’t apply evenly across the country and rent growth can vary wildly, even as sometimes the current highs seem modest compared to other locations.

In New York City, one-bedroom apartment rents were up 19.90% to hit $4,280, while two-bedrooms were up 26.00% over 2023 at $4,950. Syracuse, NY saw one-bedrooms rent for $1,100 (up 27.90% year over year) and two-bedrooms at $1,370 (24.50% jump). In Chicago, one-bedrooms hit $2,140 (18.90%) and two-bedrooms were $2,700 (24.40%).

The changes could even vary between the two types of apartments in the same city. A one-bedroom in Newark, NJ was renting for $1,470, or a 4.30% year-over-year increase. A two-bedroom in the same city was $2,030, a 14.00% increase. Knoxville, TN, saw a 7.10% increase in one-bedrooms, to $1,360, and two-bedrooms climbed 12.70% to $1,690.

Balancing the big ups was significant, though not as extreme, downs. In Scottsdale, AZ, two-bedrooms were $2,240, down 10.40% from the prior year; one-bedrooms dropped 8.80% to $1,660. In Gilbert, AZ, a one-bedrooms dropped 17.00% to $1,370; two-bedrooms, down 12.00% to $1,680.

The effect of oversupply could have a heavy hand, like in North Carolina. Inventory across Raleigh and Durham is expected to be up by more than 50% this year, and while increases in Charlotte are more modest, it is still seeing inventory growth over national averages.

“All six of the North Carolina cities in our report saw one-bedroom rent down annually with Winston Salem experiencing the second largest decline in the country, just behind Gilbert, AZ,” the authors noted. “Of our North Carolina cities, Winston-Salem led the pack with rent down 12.6% and was followed by Raleigh and Greensboro, which had rents down between 5%-11%.”