The US median rent in May fell from May 2022, the first annual rent decline in at least three years, according to a Realtor.com report released today.
It is the first decline since Realtor.com started tracking the year-over-year data in March 2020.
Danielle Hale, Realtor.com’s chief economist, said a decline in rents combined with cooling inflation and a still-strong job market is definitely welcome news for households.
Rents have gradually come down from July 2022’s peak but they remain nearly 25% higher than in 2019.
After a wave of “pandemic pricing” during much of 2020, rents started to soar in 2021 and into the middle of last year as people came back to urban cores for in-person work and school.
Although the overall market is moving in a more favorable direction for renters, there might still be an element of sticker shock out there for people who have chosen to sit tight, according to Hale.
