The Rent Report; March 2024
Summary
The median price of an apartment in February was $1,981. Every month, prices grew nationally by 0.87 percent, or $17, since one month earlier. Between December and January, rents stood at $1,964, with no price change.
Factors contributing to rising rental prices in February include pressure from the housing market, with significant annual gains in home prices – which marked the highest increase in more than a year – coupled with high interest rates.
Another variable includes a bump in inflation. February’s 3.2 percent uptick in inflation will complicate the Federal Reserve’s decision on when and by what amount to lower interest rates, a move which typically encourages more renters to become homebuyers, consequently lowering rental demand and prices.
Compared to pre-pandemic pricing, rents in February were 21 percent – or $344 – higher than they were this time in March of 2019, but still below the pandemic-era rental boom when median rents peaked in the summer of 2022 at $2,053. Rents experienced double-digit increases for 11 months, from October 2021 until September 2022. This followed a considerable cooling of the market in 2023, when national rents plateaued amid oversupply and high vacancies.
Source: Rent.com (2023). The Rent Report.