A Realtor.com report found that there was a 1.7% decrease in rent prices compared to April of last year. The reason? More supply and less demand.
Residential rents can differ wildly depending on the market, building, or neighborhood. But according to the latest report from Realtor.com, the median listed rent across 50 of the biggest metro areas fell in April. That’s a 1.7% decrease compared to the same month last year and the 33rd month in a row that rents are down year over year.
So how can that be possible, at a time when a lot of things are getting more expensive?
Like with so many things, it all comes down to supply and demand. On the supply side of rentals, “we had this huge boom of construction from 2021 to about 2024, and that effect is still being felt,” said Joel Berner, a senior economist at Realtor.com.
That’s especially the case in the Sun Belt markets. “We had lots of movers chasing after a limited number of rental units, and that drove rents way up,” he said.
