- The median asking rent climbed for the fifth consecutive month, up 0.9% year over year to $1,645.
- Rents dropped 17.9% in Austin—more than any other metro Redfin analyzed. East Coast and Midwest metros saw the steepest increases.
- Asking rents for 0-1 and 2 bedroom apartments remained flat, while 3+ bedroom apartments fell 1.7%.
The median U.S. asking rent rose 0.9% year over year in August to $1,645—the biggest annual increase since April 2023. Rents were up 0.1% on a month-over-month basis.
Rents for 0-1 bedroom apartments ticked up 0.1% year over year to $1,495, while 2 bedroom apartments remained unchanged at $1,725. Rents for 3+ bedroom apartments fell 1.7% to $2,008. The discrepancy between the overall result (showing a 0.9% gain) and the three different bedroom counts (which either fell, remained the same, or rose by a lower amount) is the result of a statistical phenomenon known as Simpson’s paradox.
While rents rose the most in nearly 18 months, August marked two years from when they hit an all-time high. Lower rents, paired with wages growing 3.8% year over year, show that rental affordability has improved.
| August 2022 | August 2024 | +/- | |
| Apartments (overall) | $1,700 | $1,645 | -3.2% |
| 0-1 Bedroom Apartments | $1,581 | $1,495 | -5.4% |
| 2 Bedroom Apartments | $1,790 | $1,725 | -3.6% |
| 3+ Bedroom Apartments | $2,024 | $2,008 | -0.8% |
| Median Home Sale Price | $409,000 | $439,000 (July) | +7.3% |
Multifamily building completions are at historic highs in 2024 and in some areas supply now outweighs demand. That is driving some building owners to reduce rents and offer concessions to prospective tenants.
“Almost everything in our lives costs more than it did two years ago—but rents have remained largely stable thanks to the construction boom, especially across the Sun Belt states,” said Redfin Senior Economist Sheharyar Bokhari. “We are seeing rents tick up a little now that new construction is starting to slow down, but asking rents are likely to stay relatively flat for some time due to the backlog of new apartments that are still coming onto the market.”
Rents in Austin and other Sun Belt metros continue to fall the fastest
The trend of increased construction leading to lower rents is most obvious in Austin, TX where the median asking rent fell 17.6% year over year in August—the steepest decline of the 33 major metros we analyzed. In dollar terms, that means rents in Austin are $317 a month less now than they were a year ago.
Authorities in the Texas capital signed off on the most new construction in the country in an effort to keep up with soaring demand during the pandemic. Demand has now leveled off, but a lot of new apartments are still coming onto the market, so asking rents are falling.
San Diego (-13.3%) and Jacksonville, FL (-13%) also recorded double-digit decreases in asking rents in August, while San Francisco (-7.8%) and Tampa, FL (-5.8%) rounded out the five metros with the largest rent decreases.
Metro-level data in this report covers apartment asking rents in 33 major U.S. metropolitan areas. National data represents the entire U.S.
The median asking rent in Virginia Beach, VA rose 15.2% year over year in August, the biggest jump among the metros Redfin analyzed. Washington, D.C. (up 12.2%), Baltimore, MD (up 11.3%), Chicago (up 10.8%) and Cincinnati, OH (up 9.4%) posted the next highest gains.
Metro-Level Summary: August 2024
| U.S. metro area | Median asking rent | Month-over-month change in median asking rent | Year-over-year change in median asking rent |
| Atlanta, GA | $1,575 | 0.3% | -0.3% |
| Austin, TX | $1,482 | 2.2% | -17.6% |
| Baltimore, MD | $1,640 | -1.4% | 11.3% |
| Boston, MA | $2,804 | -0.7% | 4.2% |
| Charlotte, NC | $1,513 | -0.2% | -3.8% |
| Chicago, IL | $1,779 | 1.1% | 10.8% |
| Cincinnati, OH | $1,345 | -0.9% | 9.4% |
| Dallas, TX | $1,488 | -0.8% | -3.4% |
| Denver, CO | $1,820 | -0.2% | 0.3% |
| Detroit, MI | $1,399 | 0.6% | 1.7% |
| Houston, TX | $1,310 | 0.8% | 9.2% |
| Indianapolis, IN | $1,412 | 0.5% | 3.5% |
| Jacksonville, FL | $1,478 | 1.2% | -13.0% |
| Las Vegas, NV | $1,499 | -1.5% | 3.4% |
| Los Angeles, CA | $2,775 | 0.3% | -4.2% |
| Miami, FL | $2,404 | -0.9% | -3.8% |
| Minneapolis, MN | $1,650 | 0.3% | 8.8% |
| Nashville, TN | $1,576 | -1.0% | -4.1% |
| New York, NY | $2,962 | -2.5% | 0.4% |
| Orlando, FL | $1,762 | -0.3% | -4.1% |
| Philadelphia, PA | $1,876 | -2.5% | -1.1% |
| Phoenix, AZ | $1,518 | -0.3% | -5.1% |
| Pittsburgh, PA | $1,420 | -2.3% | -4.7% |
| Portland, OR | $1,792 | -0.2% | -3.0% |
| Riverside, CA | $2,323 | 0.7% | 2.4% |
| Sacramento, CA | $2,050 | 0.2% | 1.7% |
| San Diego, CA | $2,695 | 0.0% | -13.3% |
| San Francisco, CA | $2,668 | -0.7% | -7.8% |
| San Jose, CA | $3,299 | 0.1% | 0.3% |
| Seattle, WA | $2,070 | 0.1% | -1.9% |
| Tampa, FL | $1,750 | 0.3% | -5.8% |
| Virginia Beach, VA | $1,635 | 1.8% | 15.2% |
| Washington, DC | $2,100 | 0.0% | 12.2% |
| National—U.S.A. | $1,645 | 0.1% | 0.9% |
Methodology
Median asking rent figures in this report cover newly listed units in apartment buildings with five or more units. The median is calculated based on a rolling three-month period, i.e., the median asking rent for August 2024 covers rentals that were listed on Rent.com and Redfin.com during the three months ending August 31, 2024.
Metro-level data in this report covers 33 of the 50 most populous U.S. core-based statistical areas (CBSAs)—those for which Rent. and Redfin have sufficient rental data. The national figures are based on data for the entire U.S.
Asking rents reflect the current costs of new leases during each time period. In other words, the amount shown as the median asking rent is not the median of what all renters are paying, but the median asking price of apartments that were available for new renters during the report period.
United States
Canada