- The national median rent fell 0.8% in December, and now stands at $1,356. This closes the book on 2025, with five consecutive months of rent declines. Based on recent years, we expect another 1-2 months of rent drops before the market turns a corner in early Spring.
- Rent prices nationally are down 1.3% compared to one year ago. Year-over-year rent growth has been slightly negative for more than two full years, and the national median rent has now fallen from its 2022 peak by a total of 5.9%.
- The national multifamily vacancy rate ran up to 7.3% this month, a record high for our index that started in 2017. We’re past the peak of a multifamily construction surge, but a healthy supply of new units are still hitting the market and colliding with sluggish demand, causing vacancies to continue trending up.
- Units are taking an average of 39 days to get leased after being listed, which is three days longer than one year ago and represents another record high back to 2019.
- The Austin, TX metro continues to have the softest conditions among the nation’s large rental markets, with the median rent there down by 6.6% over the past year. At the other end of the spectrum, the Providence, RI metro remains atop our rankings of fastest year-over-year rent growth at +5.6%.
Rents down 0.8% month-over-month, down 1.3% year-over-year
The national median rent dipped by 0.8 percent in December, closing the year with five straight months of rent decline. November provided the steepest drop, and over the next few months the market should creep back and reach positive rent growth in February or March. This is in line with typical seasonal patterns – prices soften as fewer renters move during the winter – but has been exacerbated in the last three years by rapid multifamily construction (more on that below).