A new report on rent trends in the U.S. repeats a familiar refrain. Rents tend to rise and fall according to the availability of new supply. In the Midwest, where demand outstrips supply, rents are rising. In other areas, especially the South, where thousands of new apartments are coming online or in the construction phase, rents are falling.

One benefit of falling rents, however, should be to help limit the growth of shelter inflation, one of the biggest recent drivers of price increases, according to a Realtor.com report.

And even though for the 14th consecutive month landlords nationally may have watched rents slip by -0.5% year-over-year in September, over a five-year period landlords still saw an overall rent boost for studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments.