- The median asking rent fell 0.3% year over year in December to $1,594, the lowest since March 2022.
- Austin, TX posted the biggest decline, with asking rents down 16%, followed by Tampa and Jacksonville. Rents rose most in Providence, RI, Virginia Beach and Louisville.
- Property owners are lowering rents to attract tenants as an influx of new supply drives up vacancies; apartment completions surged 58% in the third quarter to the highest level in half a century.
The median U.S. asking rent fell 0.3% year over year in December to $1,594—the lowest level since March 2022. It was down 0.1% from a month earlier, and down 6.2% from its August 2022 record high of $1,700.
The median asking rent per square foot dropped 1.9% year over year in December to $1.78, and fell 0.1% month over month.
Asking rents have been inching down because an influx of supply has left apartment owners with rising vacancies. Apartment completions surged 58.1% year over year to the highest level since 1974 in the third quarter—the most recent period for which data is available. As a result, the vacancy rate for buildings with five or more units rose to 8%, the highest since early 2021.
“We’re kicking off 2025 in a renter’s market, with many renters finding that apartments cost less than a year ago—especially in the Sun Belt,” said Redfin Senior Economist Sheharyar Bokhari. “While asking rents declined in 2024, they may not have much further to fall this year given that apartment construction has begun to slow.”
Asking rents fell across all apartment types, with 3+ bedrooms seeing the largest decline
Asking rents fell across all bedroom counts for the sixth consecutive month in December.
The median asking rent for 0-1 bedroom apartments fell 1% year over year to $1,449. For 2 bedroom apartments, it declined 0.6% to $1,665, and for 3+ bedroom apartments, it dropped 2.5% to $1,950.
| Median asking rent | YoY change in median asking rent | Median asking rent per square foot | YoY change in median asking rent per square foot | |
| 0-1 bedroom apartments | $1,449 | -1.0% | $2.05 | -2.3% |
| 2 bedroom apartments | $1,665 | -0.6% | $1.60 | -1.0% |
| 3+ bedroom apartments | $1,950 | -2.5% | $1.49 | -2.2% |
Asking rents fell fastest in Austin, now 23% below their all-time high
In Austin, TX, the median asking rent dropped 16.3% year over year in December—the largest decline among the 44 major U.S. metropolitan areas Redfin analyzed. At $1,393, Austin’s median asking rent last month was 22.6% below its August 2023 record high.
Florida is home to the two metros that posted the next steepest declines: Tampa (-10.4%) and Jacksonville (-6.7%). Next came Nashville (-6.3%) and New York (-4.6%).
Asking rents are falling most in the Sun Belt because the region has been building a lot of housing, and because in some areas, rents are coming back down to earth after rising to unsustainable levels during the pandemic moving frenzy.
Rents rose most in Providence, RI (12.6% YoY), followed by Virginia Beach, VA (10.9%), Louisville, KY (10%), Baltimore (10%) and Buffalo, NY (9.4%).
Metro-Level Summary: December 2024
| U.S. metro area | Median asking rent | YoY change in median asking rent | MoM change in median asking rent | Median asking rent per square foot | YoY change in median asking rent per square foot | MoM change in median asking rent per square foot |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlanta, GA | $1,530 | 1.9% | -0.6% | $1.56 | -1.3% | -0.6% |
| Austin, TX | $1,393 | -16.3% | -1.9% | $1.60 | -22.9% | -1.3% |
| Baltimore, MD | $1,600 | 10.0% | 0.3% | $1.71 | 5.0% | -0.2% |
| Birmingham, AL | $1,349 | 2.0% | -1.0% | $1.33 | 10.2% | 0.0% |
| Boston, MA | $2,660 | 5.8% | -0.7% | $3.05 | 1.4% | 0.0% |
| Buffalo, NY | $1,315 | 9.4% | -0.4% | $1.68 | 3.2% | 0.0% |
| Charlotte, NC | $1,475 | -0.9% | -0.4% | $1.56 | -2.2% | -0.3% |
| Chicago, IL | $1,705 | 7.9% | -1.7% | $2.13 | 2.6% | -1.3% |
| Cincinnati, OH | $1,364 | 9.1% | 3.7% | $1.54 | 6.9% | 3.3% |
| Cleveland, OH | $1,280 | 6.2% | -5.8% | $1.42 | 1.9% | -6.7% |
| Columbus, OH | $1,400 | 1.5% | -2.0% | $1.56 | 9.5% | 0.9% |
| Dallas, TX | $1,461 | -3.8% | -0.7% | $1.74 | -1.7% | -0.6% |
| Denver, CO | $1,697 | -3.6% | -0.5% | $2.09 | -5.8% | -1.7% |
| Detroit, MI | $1,345 | -0.3% | -3.6% | $1.52 | 4.6% | -1.2% |
| Houston, TX | $1,239 | 2.4% | -1.3% | $1.43 | -5.0% | -0.2% |
| Indianapolis, IN | $1,350 | 3.9% | -0.7% | $1.48 | 4.4% | -0.2% |
| Jacksonville, FL | $1,451 | -6.7% | -1.4% | $1.54 | -1.8% | 2.0% |
| Las Vegas, NV | $1,449 | -2.5% | 0.6% | $1.65 | -0.9% | -0.4% |
| Los Angeles, CA | $2,780 | -0.4% | -0.1% | $3.37 | 1.1% | 0.1% |
| Louisville/Jefferson County, KY | $1,230 | 10.0% | -0.3% | $1.36 | 12.7% | -0.3% |
| Memphis, TN | $1,199 | 1.5% | -1.9% | $1.22 | -0.5% | -1.9% |
| Miami, FL | $2,371 | 1.3% | 0.5% | $2.47 | 1.6% | 0.4% |
| Minneapolis, MN | $1,540 | -3.7% | -2.4% | $1.90 | -0.2% | -2.7% |
| Nashville, TN | $1,495 | -6.3% | -0.7% | $1.70 | -1.6% | 1.0% |
| New York, NY | $2,804 | -4.6% | 0.3% | $3.47 | -3.9% | 1.7% |
| Orlando, FL | $1,715 | -2.0% | 0.6% | $1.80 | -3.8% | -0.8% |
| Philadelphia, PA | $1,865 | -0.8% | 0.8% | $2.15 | -2.2% | 0.5% |
| Phoenix, AZ | $1,479 | -1.3% | 0.1% | $1.76 | -1.3% | 0.5% |
| Pittsburgh, PA | $1,370 | -4.2% | -0.7% | $1.67 | 1.7% | 0.2% |
| Portland, OR | $1,754 | -2.0% | -1.7% | $2.04 | -5.4% | -1.6% |
| Providence, RI | $2,145 | 12.6% | 0.9% | $2.53 | 9.9% | 1.5% |
| Raleigh, NC | $1,418 | -4.1% | -0.3% | $1.49 | -3.1% | 0.1% |
| Richmond, VA | $1,583 | 5.6% | 0.3% | $1.72 | 5.9% | -1.2% |
| Riverside, CA | $2,268 | 1.0% | -0.9% | $2.61 | 6.2% | -0.6% |
| Sacramento, CA | $1,965 | 1.8% | -0.2% | $2.36 | 2.9% | -0.8% |
| Salt Lake City, UT | $1,476 | -2.2% | 0.8% | $1.83 | -3.2% | 0.9% |
| San Diego, CA | $2,837 | 1.3% | -0.4% | $3.37 | 2.1% | -1.4% |
| San Francisco, CA | $2,697 | 0.4% | 0.9% | $3.55 | -3.4% | 0.3% |
| San Jose, CA | $3,173 | 6.8% | -0.8% | $3.70 | 8.7% | 0.7% |
| Seattle, WA | $2,017 | 0.5% | 1.3% | $2.65 | -2.2% | 0.1% |
| St. Louis, MO | $1,230 | 1.7% | 0.4% | $1.43 | 2.1% | 0.7% |
| Tampa, FL | $1,737 | -10.4% | -0.2% | $1.97 | -3.8% | 0.2% |
| Virginia Beach, VA | $1,578 | 10.9% | -1.3% | $1.70 | 10.0% | -0.5% |
| Washington, D.C. | $2,040 | 8.5% | -0.2% | $2.35 | 12.3% | 0.6% |
| National | $1,594 | -0.3% | -0.1% | $1.78 | -1.9% | -0.1% |
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 December 2024 covers rentals that were listed on Rent.com and Redfin.com during the three months ending December 31, 2024.
Metro-level data in this report covers 44 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.
Written by: Lily Katz