S Rents Fall for Third Straight Month in ‘Sharper’ Pullback

Apartment rents across the US dropped in November by the most in at least five years, a sign that a key cost tracked by the Federal Reserve could be easing up.

A national index of rents fell by 1%, the third straight month-over-month decline and the steepest drop in data going back to 2017, Apartment List said in a blog post Tuesday.
The apartment market is cooling, in part because builders are adding supply and people are choosing to stay with family or roommates as they cope with higher costs for everything from utilities to groceries. As a result, landlords are easing up, especially in areas where rents rose the most during the pandemic boom.

“The timing of the recent cooldown in the rental market is consistent with the typical seasonal trend, but its magnitude has been notably sharper than what we’ve seen in the past,” Apartment List said in the blog post. “It is likely that rents will continue to dip further in the coming months.”