Apartment rents in August recorded a national average of $1,713, a slight 0.23% decrease from July’s revised rent of $1,719.
According to Apartments.com, an online marketplace of CoStar Group (NASDAQ: CSGP), this marks the second consecutive month of flat or negative monthly rent change and the first time since January that the national average has declined by more than 20 basis points.
On a year-over-year measurement, rent growth slowed further to 1.0%, down from 1.1% in July and 1.5% at the start of the year.
All regions posted rent declines in August, a reversal from July when the Midwest and Northeast recorded modest gains. Only three major metro markets posted positive month-over-month rent growth in August, led by San Francisco with a 0.6% increase, followed by California’s Orange County with a 0.3% uptick, and Northern New Jersey at a scant inching up of 0.1%. At the other end of the spectrum, Richmond, Virginia, posted the steepest monthly decline at -1.1%, followed by Austin (-1.1%), Las Vegas (-1.0%), and San Antonio (-0.9%).
Year-over-year trends also reflect this divide. San Francisco leads the nation with 6.2% annual rent growth, followed by Chicago (3.9%), San Jose (3.5%), and New York (2.8%). Year-over-year declines were most prominent in Austin (-4.7%), Denver (-3.5%), and Phoenix (-3.1%).
