Multifamily rent prices ticked up on a monthly and yearly basis in August, with increases moderated by the high number of newly built apartments in the lease-up phase, according to a Sept. 4 report from real estate data firm Yardi Matrix.
Last month the average advertised U.S. rent rose $2, or 0.1%, to $1,773 from July. Year over year, rent prices were up 0.4% in August — the highest rate of increase in almost a year.
Rent growth is “highly correlated” with the number and share of new building stock in lease-up in a given market, according to Yardi’s analysis. For example, the Sun Belt metros with weak rent growth still have a large percentage of new apartments competing for renters.
At the beginning of August, 1.2 million units were in lease-up nationwide — down from the early 2025 peak of 1.4 million apartments, but about double the average seen in the previous decade.
Overall, the supply-demand balance is moving in a positive direction, as demand persists while apartment deliveries and incoming developments taper, per Yardi. Starts and deliveries have dropped by one-third from cycle highs in 2023 and 2024 while absorption has stayed relatively strong, creating “expectations that rent growth will return soon, especially in high-growth Sun Belt markets,” according to Yardi.
Performance by segment
Last month, rent prices in Gateway and Midwest markets continued to outperform, although momentum in certain Midwest metros cooled.
Buoyed by strong artificial intelligence- and tech-related demand plus limited new supply, San Francisco remained the leader in both occupancy and rent growth in August, with rents up 6.1% YOY. It was followed by New York City (rents up 5.3% YOY), Kansas City in Kansas and Missouri (3%), Chicago (2.6%) and the Twin Cities in Minnesota (2.4%).
At the same time, rent prices in some high-supply markets like Denver; Portland, Oregon; and Austin, Texas; became less negative, indicating that supply-driven pricing pressure is easing. Rent declines continued to moderate in some Sun Belt metros like Austin (-2.8% YOY), Denver (-2%), Tampa, Florida, (-1.8%), Houston (-1.7%) and Phoenix (-1.6%).
The national occupancy rate stood at 94.2% in July, the same rate as June, but down 0.5% YOY. Occupancy weakness was widespread, with San Francisco the only Yardi Matrix top 30 market to post an increase, up 0.5% YOY.
In nearly half of Yardi’s markets, occupancy fell 50 basis points or more. Tampa tumbled the furthest, down 1.2% YOY, followed by Washington, D.C., and Las Vegas (both -0.9%), and then Houston and Columbus, Ohio (both -0.8%).
Overall, August’s numbers “point to an increasingly uneven, market-specific rent recovery,” per Yardi.
By segment, single-family build-to-rent prices were up 0.5% YOY in August at a record high of $2,246, while occupancy rates for SF BTR fell 20 basis points to 94.8%. Renter-by-necessity rent prices increased 0.6% YOY in August, while lifestyle rents were up 0.4% YOY.
As the industry enters the second half, “normal seasonal slowing, trade tensions and broader economic uncertainty will test whether recent momentum can carry through year-end,” according to Yardi.
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