Zillow: Rents Rising at Fastest Pace in More Than a Year

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Zillow, Seattle, released its latest Zillow Observed Rent Index, finding the typical U.S. asking rent rose to $1,962 in July.

That’s up 2.3% annually, marking the fastest pace in more than a year.

Single-family rents rose 3% to $2,314, compared with 1.7% for the gain in multifamily apartments, which are now at $1,786.

However, 39.8% of rentals on the platform offered a concession in the month, up from 35.9% in July 2025.

The market is seeing the aftereffects of recent conditions–the historically large number of new apartments that hit the market over the past couple years increased supply and gave renters room to negotiate. But that pipeline has slowed and the market has begun to tighten.

“Renters have benefited from one of the most favorable supply surges in decades,” said Mischa Fisher, chief economist at Zillow. “But nationally, we’re approaching an inflection point. The supply tailwind is fading, rent growth is picking back up, and concession rates that have been climbing for two years are expected to start easing.”

The rental market also remains strong due to challenges in buying homes. The typical U.S. renter spends about 26.8% of their income on rent, and affording the typical rental home requires $78,488 in annual income. In comparison, affording the typical purchased home requires $99,800.

Zillow forecasts multifamily rents to rise around 1.9% for the full year, with single-family rents predicted to rise at 2.9%.