February 2018 Rent Report

UNDER EMBARGO UNTIL THURSDAY 2/1/2018 AT 6:00AM EST

Methodology Note:

Apartment List is committed to making our rent estimates the best and most accurate available, and as part of our efforts toward that goal, we've recently made some changes to our methodology. Data from private listing sites, including our own, tend to skew towards luxury apartments, introducing sample bias.

In order to address these limitations, our estimates now start with reliable median rent statistics from the Census Bureau, which we then extrapolate forward to the current month using a growth rate calculated from our listing data. In calculating that growth rate, we use a same-unit analysis similar to Case-Shiller’s approach, comparing only units that are available across both time periods to provide an accurate picture of rent growth in cities across the country.

We are continuously working to improve our methodology and data, with the goal of providing renters with the information that they need to make the best decisions. You can read more about our new methodology here.

Welcome to the February 2018 National Apartment List Rent Report! Our national rent index is down 0.2 percent month-over-month, marking the fifth straight month that we've seen rents fall.

Read on for an analysis of the trends we're seeing this month:

National index down 0.2 percent month-over-month

Our national rent index fell by by 0.2 percent over the past month and is now down 0.5 percent over the past five months. Year-over-year growth currently stands at 2.6 percent, falling in between the levels from the two prior years.

Our national index began flattening a bit earlier than usual late last summer and has now been declining for five straight months. This annual dip in rents is due to seasonality in the rental market, with slower rental activity in the fall and winter months. Based on trends from prior years, we expect rents to begin increasing again in the coming months.

Despite the decrease over the past month, rents are still up 2.6 percent year-over-year at the national level. Year-over-year growth continues to fall between the 1.9 percent rate from this time last year and the 3.7 percent growth rate from January 2016. Rent growth is pacing a bit ahead of the overall rate of inflation, which stands at 2.1 percent as of the latest data release, and is right in line with growth in average hourly earnings which have increased by 2.5 percent over the past twelve months.

Rents down month-over-month in 60 of 100 largest cities

The drop in rents at the national level is being mirrored in many of the nations biggest markets -- the map below show's month-over-month rent growth for the nation's 100 largest cities (markers are sized by population):

Note that rents declined month-over-month in  60 of the nation's 100 largest cities -- note that this number has been steadily declining since October, when 73 cities saw month-over-month decreases. Despite the seasonal slowdown, rents are still up year-over-year in nearly all of the nations largest markets -- 91 of the 100 largest cities have seen rents increase over the past twelve months. The chart below shows how rents have changed over the past year for the five cities that experienced the fastest growth:

Sacramento continues to experience the nation's fastest rent growth, with an increase of 9.3 percent over the past year. Reno, NV came in second with 7.5 percent year-over-year growth, followed by Orlando, which saw rents grow by 7.2 percent.

At the state level, Idaho experienced the fastest year-over-year growth in the nation at 4.9 percent, followed by Nevada, Utah and California all of which saw rent growth of more than four percent.

Few cities experiencing Y/Y rent declines

Only 9 of the 100 largest cities have seen rents fall over the past year, but an additional 32 saw modest gains of less than 2 percent. The chart below shows trends for the five cities where rents declined most:

Oklahoma City has experienced the largest dip in rents over the past year with -1.8 percent growth, followed closely by Portland, OR and Anchorage, AK, both of which saw rents fall by 1.6 percent over the past year. Note that Portland, Louisville and Baton Rouge all experienced moderate rent growth through the first half last year, with rent growth turning negative only in recent months.

At the state level, Wyoming saw the biggest drop in rents over the past year with a decrease of 1.2 percent. West Virginia, Alaska and Hawaii are the only other states to see rents fall year-over-year.

Please see additional data below for the nation's 100 largest cities, or check out the full data for your city or county at our rental data page. And as always, feel free to contact us with any questions!

Check out our rent reports for the following cities:

• Atlanta, GA
• Austin, TX
• Baltimore, MD
• Boston, MA
• Boulder, CO
• Charlotte, NC
• Chicago, IL
• Cleveland, OH
• Colorado Springs, CO
• Dallas, TX
• Denver, CO
• Detroit, MI
• Fort Collins, CO
• Fort Lauderdale, FL
• Houston, TX
• Indianapolis, IN
• Jacksonville, FL
• Los Angeles, CA
• Miami, FL
• Minneapolis, MN
• New York, NY
• Orlando, FL
• Phoenix, AZ
• Raleigh, NC
• San Antonio, TX
• San Diego, CA
• San Francisco, CA
• San Jose, CA
• Seattle, WA
• Tallahassee, FL
• Tampa, FL
• Tucson, AZ
• Washington, DC

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Methodology:

Apartment List Rent Report data is drawn monthly from the millions of listings on our site. 1-bedroom and 2-bedroom rents are calculated as the median for units available in the specified size and time period. Price changes are calculated using a “same unit” methodology similar to the Case-Shiller “repeat sales” home prices methodology, taking the average price change for units available across both time periods. For top city rankings, we calculated median 1-bedroom and 2-bedroom rents in 100 top cities and then ranked them by 2-bedroom rents.

About Apartment List Rent Reports:

Apartment List’s Rent Reports cover rental pricing data in major cities, their suburbs, and their neighborhoods. We provide valuable leading indicators of rental price trends, highlight data on top cities, and identify the key facts renters should know. As always, our goal is to provide price transparency to America’s 105 million renters to help them make the best possible decisions in choosing a place to call home. Apartment List publishes Rent Reports during the first calendar week of each month.