The national median apartment rent saw an uptick of 0.4 percent in June to $1,385 per month, marking the fifth month in a row of price hikes, according to Apartment List’s July National Rent Report.
“We are now in the middle of the peak summer moving season, and as such, we’ll likely see prices continue to increase for another month or two, before the fall cooldown begins,” the report states.
Compared to the same month last year, the median rent dipped by 1.2 percent, or $17. Meanwhile, it has dropped by about 4 percent, or $57, from its 2022 peak.
Despite the price reductions, today’s rent levels are still 21 percent higher than they were at the beginning of 2021.
Apartment List noted the trend is keeping with seasonal patterns, which see prices spiking in the spring and summer, then softening in the fall and winter as activity typically subsides. The report also found that a new wave of national multi-family construction has contributed to additional market selection, resulting in negative rent growth over the past three years.
“The construction boom peaked in 2024, when we saw over 600,000 new multifamily units hit the market, the most new supply in a single year since 1986,” the report states.
Currently, data show the multifamily vacancy rate at 7.2 percent, a decline for the first time in four years.
“Units are taking an average of 30 days to get leased after being listed, which is down from 31 days last month,” the report says. However, that number is still three days longer than at the same time in 2025.
The report notes that vacancy rates remain elevated due to uncertainty about the labor market and inflation.
“This month’s reading is the longest that we’ve seen in any June going back to 2019,” it said.
Among the country’s largest rental markets, San Antonio, Texas, shows the softest conditions, with median rents down by 5 percent over the past year. San Francisco, on the other hand, tops the list of the country’s fastest year-over-year growth at 7.4 percent.
Overall, rents experienced a year-over-year decline in 30 of the country’s 56 metros with a population over 1 million, while increasing month over month in 51 of these markets. According to the report, annual declines were concentrated mainly in the South and Mountain West regions, while the Northeast, Midwest, and sections of the West Coast continue to see prices advance.
A late June report from Homes.com indicated renters can get the best deals in apartments in cities such as Austin and San Antonio, Texas, as well as Charlotte, North Carolina, where a surge in new apartment construction is driving down prices.
The report notes that rents in Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Tampa, Florida, have also decreased by 2 percent or more year over year.
Apartment List says that rents are also trending up year over year after reaching the bottom in April, with vacancy rates stabilizing and list-to-lease time shortening. However, the report notes that uncertain economic conditions could present risks to rental demand.
