Multifamily rent prices grew year over year in September and were nearly flat from August, according to an Oct. 7 report from real estate data firm Yardi Matrix. Meanwhile, third-quarter rents increased from Q2 for the first time since 2022, an “indication that fundamentals may be stabilizing after several years of supply-driven weakness.”
Last month the average advertised U.S. rent ticked down $1 month over month, or 0.1%, to $1,775, while rents rose 0.7% from September 2025. Rent prices were up 0.3% in Q3 on a quarterly basis. Renter-by-necessity outperformed lifestyle rents in most markets.
Single-family build-to-rent prices fell $4 MOM in September to $2,245, marking the sector’s first negative month since January. On a yearly basis though, SF BTR rents rose 0.8%, and the segment continues to modestly outperform multifamily more broadly.
Despite ongoing economic volatility, “improving market breadth, slowing supply growth and resilient occupancy suggest multifamily is entering the fourth quarter on firmer footing,” according to Yardi.
Occupancy and renewals
Yardi reported two occupancy numbers. One, stabilized occupancy, includes properties that have been operating for at least 18 months or are 90% occupied. The other, total occupancy, includes all properties.
As of August, the national average stabilized occupancy rate was 94.3%, down 30 basis points YOY, while the total occupancy rate was 93.9%, 10 basis points higher YOY.
In this cycle, the gap between the numbers peaked at 0.9 percentage points in Q2 2025. However, over the past year, the gap has narrowed to 0.4 percentage points. Driving the trend was total occupancy increasing by 50 bps since the beginning of the year, which is “fuel for the argument that new properties in the lease-up phase in high-supply markets are beginning to fill as deliveries wane and demand remains strong,” according to Yardi.
Renewal rent growth slowed to 1.7% in September — its lowest level since before 2020, per Yardi. Plus, years of weak rent growth are increasingly weighing on renewals in high-supply metros like Austin, Texas, and Phoenix.
“With advertised rents negative in many markets over the last two to three years, renewals had been a key source of revenue growth,” according to Yardi. “But renewal growth is fading in some markets as existing rents catch up to advertised rents.”
Rents by market
Rent performance across markets is becoming less polarized, Yardi’s report shows. Gateway markets are still reporting solid rent increases, while rent growth in high-supply Sun Belt areas is becoming less negative as supply slackens.
Gateway and Midwest markets recorded the highest rent increases, still led by San Francisco at 7% YOY, followed by New York City (3.8%), Chicago (3.2%), Kansas City in Kansas and Missouri (3.1%) and Detroit (2.3%).
Fourteen of the top 30 metros saw rents fall YOY, declining most in Austin (-2.5%), Houston (-2.0%), Denver (-1.6%) and Tampa, Florida, and Boston (both -1.4%).
Whether the momentum continues into the rest of the year is the question. Over the past four years, rents have declined QOQ by an average of $7 during Q4.
“The fourth quarter will be an important test,” according to Yardi. “If rents remain near current levels through yearend, annual growth could finish above 1%, a meaningful improvement from recent years.”
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