Asking Rents Rose Again in March, Redfin Found

(Image courtesy of Redfin)

Redfin, Seattle, found median asking rents rose 0.8% year-over-year in March, in the third consecutive increase.

The recent spate of increases–pushing the median asking rent to $1,987–followed three months of decreases.

Rents also rose extremely narrowly from February–by 0.3%.

Redfin pointed to a number of factors as influencing the rising rents, including continued elevated mortgage rates potentially delaying future buyers’ plans.

Additionally, regional variance has pushed up median rents–the Midwest and Northeast have seen the biggest bumps.

The largest climb in March was in the Midwest, where the median asking rent was up 5.3% year-over-year. The rate climbed 3.8% in the Northeast. In contrast, rents were close to flat in the South (up 0.3%) and fell by 0.7% in the West.

This variance may be due to a lower rate of construction of new properties in the Midwest and Northeast.

Despite recent months’ results, rents aren’t growing as fast as they were just a couple years ago; during 2022, rents grew by as much as 17.7% year-over-year.

“During the pandemic, you saw property owners charging $2,800 a month in rent for a house that a year earlier cost $2,000,”  said Heather Mahmood-Corley, a Redfin Real Estate Agent in Phoenix. “But the economy has changed and many people are trying to curb their spending, which means it’s harder for property owners to get renters to agree to big rent hikes.”