06/27/2023

Rental Prices are Finally Starting to Drop from Pandemic Highs

There’s good news coming for millions of renters

After years of eye-popping price increases, renters may finally be getting some relief.

Rent prices fell 0.5 percent in May compared with the year before, according to data from Realtor.com released Monday. The firm’s tracking showed that to be the first year-over-year drop since early in the pandemic, when strong consumer demand collided with a lack of available apartments and homes. The median asking rent — essentially what landlords advertise for a vacant unit — was $1,739, down by $38 from July 2022’s peak. Still, that figure was up by $3 from the prior month and $344 higher than the same time in 2019.

That’s welcome news for millions of American renters, many of whom have forced their budgets to stretch each time a new payment is due. But there is still a long way to go: Housing costs are still by far the main factor driving inflation. And solving the problem depends on myriad factors, from the Federal Reserve's fight to cool the economy to the affordability of new units coming online.

Please select this link to read the complete article from The Washington Post.