National effective asking rent growth could hit approximately 2.3% this year, with the largest share of the top 50 markets seeing rises between 2% and 2.9%, according to an apartment market analysis from RealPage.
Additionally, prices will rise more than 3% in about one-third of the top 50 markets, while 16% will see more moderate gains of between 1.5% and 1.9%, and 6% will have minimal growth of around 0.5%. The remaining 6% of markets – which are Austin, Denver and Phoenix – are projected to experience drops in the category this year, although they will be less severe than last year.
Meanwhile, Richmond is expected to lead the nation with the highest rent growth in 2025. The forecast for Washington, D.C., has been downgraded despite a solid Q1 performance due to ongoing federal job cuts that are expected to weigh on the local economy and beyond, said RealPage.
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During the first quarter, multifamily demand remained strong, absorbing 138,000 apartment units, which represents a record high for the first three months of the year. Atlanta led all major markets during the quarter with absorption of 7,612 units, followed by Phoenix with 7,461 units absorbed and Dallas with 7,387. Anaheim was the only major market to record net move-outs during the quarter. The apartment market is expected to absorb nearly 460,000 units this year, the report predicts.
Roughly 116,000 units came online during the first quarter, reinforcing that new deliveries have passed their peak. RealPage expects 431,000 new deliveries for 2025, a decrease of 26% from 2024’s total deliveries.
Rent growth gained momentum in early 2025, buoyed by 0.3% growth during the first quarter specifically. Notably, this marked the first quarterly rent growth during the first quarter period since 2022, said RealPage. Among the top 50 markets, 26 outperformed the national average annual rent increase.
RealPage noted that job growth got off to a slower start this year after a strong finish to 2024. The 456,000 jobs added during the first quarter were well below the first-quarter average of 673,000 jobs.
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Kristen Smithberg
Kristen Smithberg is a Colorado-based freelance writer who covers commercial real estate, insurance, benefits and retirement topics for BenefitsPRO and other industry publications.
