A housing market shaken up by high prices and low supply is forcing a growing number of Americans into the rental market, and while rental prices are still up on a year-over-year basis in over half of the 100 largest U.S. cities, rent increases appear to be softening, The New York Times reports. July’s national median rent of $1,506 for a one-bedroom apartment was up a tenth of a percent from June and 3.9 percent higher than it was a year ago, marking the smallest one-year increase since June 2021.
Since last July, one-bedroom rents are down in 38 of the nation’s 100 largest cities, unchanged in seven, and up in 55. The most notable decrease is in Lincoln, Neb., where the median one-bedroom rental costs $830 a month, an 18.6 year-over-year drop. On the contrary, the highest median one-bedroom rent in the country is in New York, where a one-bedroom sets renters back roughly $3,980, up 5.3 percent from a year ago.
The July rent report by the rental platform Zumper found that rate increases are slowing in many of the 100 largest U.S. cities (counter to what is typically expected during a peak moving season), though not decreasing.
Jersey City, N.J., the second most expensive city, had a median rent of $3,390, up 23.3 percent over a year. Durham, N.C., saw a 23.6 percent spike, to $1,570, while Miami, with the fourth most expensive one-bedrooms at $2,800, was up 12 percent.
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