Apartment rents just dropped to the lowest level in 4 years

The national median rent in January was $1,353, a drop of 1.4% compared with one year ago, according to Apartment List. This is now the fourth consecutive winter with a “pronounced” offseason dip, and is the largest annual drop since September 2023 and the lowest January rent since 2022. Rents are now 6.2% lower than their last peak in the summer of 2022.

The national vacancy rate was 7.3% in January, a record high on Apartment List’s index, which dates to 2017. Units are also taking an average of 41 days to get leased, four days more than in January 2025 and another high for the index. 

“Early last year, it appeared that annual rent growth was on track to flip positive for the first time since mid-2023; however, that rebound stalled out and reversed course during a slow summer moving season that has now dragged into the winter,” wrote Chris Salviati, chief economist at Apartment List.

The record supply of new apartment units has peaked, but there is still a good amount coming through the pipeline. That is coming up against weaker demand because of a tighter job market and slower household formation.

Looking locally, most of the annual declines are in the South and Mountain West regions. Markets in the Northeast, Midwest and parts of the West Coast continue to see rising rents despite the general winter slowdown.

Austin, Texas, wins the dubious distinction of the softest rental market in the nation, with the median rent there down 6.3% from the year before. It is followed by New Orleans; San Antonio; Tucson, Arizona; and Denver.

Virginia Beach, Virginia, is seeing the fastest rent growth at 5%. It is followed by San Jose and San Francisco, California; Chicago; and Providence, Rhode Island.

“The wave of construction that has been driving these conditions is waning, but whether or not market conditions shift will now depend on rental demand, whose outlook has grown shakier due to weakness in the labor market and general economic uncertainty,” Salviati wrote.