A dearth of multifamily development in some East Coast and Midwestern cities buoyed apartment rents in the third quarter, even as rent growth cooled across the Sun Belt and Southern metros. According to a new report from Redfin, rents rose by double digits in several cities in the Mid-Atlantic and Great Lakes regions, but declined in parts of the East Coast, California, and the Sun Belt.

Redfin found that asking rents dropped across all apartment sizes, from studios to units with more than three bedrooms — a trend the firm said hadn't been seen in the last four years. Washington, D.C., and Virginia Beach saw the largest year-over-year rent increases, at 12.0% and 11.3%, respectively, while Jacksonville and Raleigh led the declines, with drops exceeding 10.6% over the same period.

"On the East Coast and in the Midwest, there hasn't been as much building activity, so asking rents are rising. Meanwhile, if you're in a Sun Belt city where construction boomed following the pandemic, rents are now falling pretty fast," Redfin senior economist Sheharyar Bokhari said. "Rents remain stable nationally, but could look very different depending on where you live in the country."