Affordable apartments are getting snapped up quickly — but rental units in these 18 cities are significantly cheaper now than they were last year

Five consecutive months of falling rent hasn’t solved the apartment affordability issue.
Reasonably priced units are flying off the market shortly after being built.
Here are 18 cities where rent is lower now than in 2022, according to Realtor.com.

Rent in the United States is steadily falling, but good deals on apartments are still hard to come by.

According to a new Realtor.com report, rent growth was negative for the fifth consecutive month in September. Last month, the median apartment with two or fewer bedrooms in one of the 50 largest US real estate markets was listed for $1,747, 0.7% less than in 2022.

Despite the fact that the summer is a busy season for movers, rent fell 0.6% year on year in August and 1% in July from the all-time high of $1,776 in the summer of 2022.

However, renters should not rejoice over these minor improvements. Apartments are historically unaffordable, as they are 24% more expensive than in 2019 — a $338 monthly difference, according to Realtor.com‘s Jiayi Xu and Danielle Hale.

Low-cost apartments are in high demand.

Another issue for renters is that when relatively inexpensive setups hit the market, they usually don’t last long.

Since the financial crisis, a nationwide shortage of houses and apartment buildings has kept both home prices and rents high. This issue is gradually being addressed as 445,000 new multi-family units come online, though they are selling quickly.

According to Realtor.com, nearly 70% of new affordable apartments were filled within three months of completion in the second quarter, compared to 57.2% for more expensive units.

“Although this additional rental inventory is undoubtedly a positive development for renters, the rapid rate at which these units are being absorbed suggests that demand in the rental market remains robust,” the authors write.

According to the report, cheaper apartments were filled faster in early 2023 than before the pandemic. The trend was evident across all four major US regions, with less expensive Midwest markets experiencing the most dramatic increase in so-called absorption rates of new rental units.

“As the Midwest markets tend to have greater affordability, the stronger growth in these markets likely results from this benefit even as it may reduce existing affordability,” the authors write.

18 housing markets with falling rents

While affordable apartments are difficult to find and even more difficult to secure, renters should not give up and spend their savings on a house.

According to Realtor.com, there are a dozen and a half metropolitan areas where rent growth is down significantly from last year, including trendy cities like Austin, Texas, and large California cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles.

The 18 metro areas with the lowest rents in apartments with two bedrooms or fewer are listed below, along with the median rent and year-over-year rent change for each.

1. Austin, Texas

Peter Tsai/Getty Images

Median rent: $1,638

Year-over-year rent change: -7.3%

Low-cost apartments are in high demand.

18 housing markets with falling rents

1. Austin, Texas

2. Dallas, Texas

3. Orlando, Florida

4. Portland, Oregon

5. Phoenix, Arizona

6. Atlanta, Georgia

7. San Francisco, California

8. Raleigh, North Carolina

9. Seattle, Washington

10. Tampa, Florida

11. Los Angeles, California

12. Las Vegas, Nevada

13. Memphis, Tennessee

14. Sacramento, California

15. Miami, Florida

16. San Antonio, Texas

17. Charlotte, North Carolina

18. San Diego, California

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