10 U.S. Cities Where Rent Is Finally Dropping

Rent prices are starting to go down in much of the United States, which is giving a little relief to people facing high housing costs. This drop comes after rents increased a lot between 2019 and 2022.

According to a recent report from Realtor.com, five cities have seen their average rent drop by more than 5% in the past year. Denver leads the list, with rent prices falling by 7%. Other big drops happened in Sun Belt cities like Austin (down 6.5%) and Phoenix (down 6.2%).

These lower rent prices mean renters might be more willing to move and look for better deals. In the past, high rent made it hard for people to move. Now, as rents go down, people have more reason to shop around and see if they can pay less elsewhere.
 

Rent Prices Are Lower—But Still High

While prices are falling, rent is still expensive. Rent peaked in August 2022 at over $1,750 per month for one- or two-bedroom units. Since then, the average rent has dropped about $46 (or 2.6%) to $1,713. The main reason for this drop is that more rental units have become available.

But this decline is small compared to the big jump in prices during the pandemic, when there weren't enough rental homes and house prices also went up. Even today, the average rent is 17% (or $249 a month) higher than it was in 2019.

Some cities have seen bigger drops since August 2022. For example, Las Vegas and Atlanta both saw rents fall by 13.6%, and Austin's rent dropped by 13.4% from their highest points.
 

The Top 10 Cities With Falling Rents

For the first time since March, rents dropped in August, which may mark the beginning of the usual slowdown that happens late in the year. The report tracked rent changes in the 50 largest U.S. metro areas. Here are the 10 cities where median rent prices are dropping the fastest:
 

• Denver, Colorado: $1,785 (-7%)
• Austin, Texas: $1,436 (-6.5%)
• Phoenix, Arizona: $1,471 (-6.2%)
• Raleigh, North Carolina: $1,471 (-5.9%)
• Nashville, Tennessee: $1,515 (-5.1%)
• San Diego, California: $2,720 (-4.9%)
• Jacksonville, Florida: $1,482 (-4.9%)
• Riverside, California: $2,089 (-4.8%)
• Las Vegas, Nevada: $1,443 (-4.6%)
• Louisville, Kentucky: $1,242 (-4.2%)

These changes may help some renters find better deals, especially in these cities where prices are falling the most. But overall, rent is still higher than it was just a few years ago.

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