Apartment rents were up slightly in December with the national average increasing to $1,708, a scant 0.1% increase from November’s upwardly revised figure of $1,707.
According to data from Apartments.com, this mild uptick reversed the previous five consecutive month trend of flat or negative monthly rent change. Annual rent growth inched up to 0.66% in December from 0.74% in the prior month but was down from 1.5% at the start of 2025.
Three of the four regions recorded small bump-ups in apartment rents: The Midwest with a 0.12% month-over-month increase, the South at 0.07%, and the Northeast at 0.06%. The West continued to post rent declines, down -0.01%. On an annual basis, the Midwest led with a 2.2% growth, followed by the Northeast at 1.5%, while the South’s rents declined -0.1% year-over-year and the West experienced a -1.4% decline.
Last month, 25 of the top 50 markets posted rent increases, up from just seven in November. Month-over-month rent growth leaders were San Francisco +0.64%, Norfolk +0.53% and Richmond +0.42%. The steepest monthly declines occurred in Portland, down -0.29%, followed by Memphis, Salt Lake City, San Antonio and Denver, each down between -0.21% and -0.26%.
San Francisco posted the strongest annual rent growth among the major metro markets at +5.9%, followed by Norfolk at +3.8%, with Chicago and San Jose each at +3.4%. In contrast, Austin recorded a -4.6% decline, while Denver and San Antonio fell -3.4% and -3.3%, respectively.
