Rental Market declining

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This will be a bad thing and all trumps fault.

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Ha. Why is that?

It was very clear to me personally the rental market was absurdly high from about 2022-present.

I had employees that started off around 2020-2021 paying $1400-1800/ rent and that skyrocketed to $2400-3000. Most of them moved to less desirable locations because of it.

It simply wasn’t sustainable. The major reason was the lack of rental apts from 2020-2023 due to the real estate boom. It was only a matter of time when rental apt inventory would catch up because there was clearly tons of money to be made at those high rents.

Answer

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Average rents in the U.S. have been generally declining or cooling off in many areas over recent months and years. Nationally, the median rent has slightly declined about 0.9% year-over-year as of late 2025 and fallen from its 2022 peak by roughly 4.2%. This trend has been ongoing for over two years, with rent decreases concentrated mostly in Sun Belt and Mountain West markets, while some markets in the Northeast, Midwest, and parts of the West Coast have seen rent increases. The national median rent as of October 2025 stands near $1,381, reflecting a modest but consistent downward trend after a period of record rent growth. Elevated apartment supply and slower migration patterns have contributed to this easing in rent prices. However, rent prices remain substantially higher compared to pre-pandemic levels, still about 21% above January 2021 figures. Certain metropolitan areas such as Austin, Denver, and Atlanta have experienced notable rent declines by as much as 6-7% annually, reflecting local oversupply issues. Despite the overall decline, some cities and regions are exceptions, showing slight rent increases or stable rents.

You don't make real estate decisions off of national news. Decisions about any portfolio changes should be both local and personal.

The rental market has been increasing at a pace that is not sustainable. Same with new construction. It was bound to cool off. In my area, we have been riding a 20 year run for investors that has lasted longer than expected. No big changes planned for me personally, but it is not a time to be aggressive. Stay the course is likely a good answer for many. At current prices, most investors should be fine with flat or some reasonable lower prices.

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Rising insurance and property taxes are eating into rental profits as well.

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Spot on. This is more currently more concerning than price drops. The increases in both are note worthy.

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The rate of rent “growth” is decreasing by a fraction on a percent? Big fricking deal.

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I started wondering if I was the crazy one. People are celebrating an amount of savings that allows them to indulge in Red Cup day at Starbucks.

There’s also a ton of conflation with rental property types. There’s a huge difference between the rental market for a single family home vs. the various multi family options.

I built a couple fourplexes outside of San Antonio last year. We have struggled to get the rents we initially budgeted. A lot of competition.

We were looking for $1500+ a month per unit. Stuck at around $1350. It’s still enough to cash flow our loans, but definitely not making the profit we thought we would.

So they declined. Rents can't go up forever. They have to level or decline at some point on the backend of historic growth.

Who would have thought letting millions upon millions of illegal immigrants would have blown our housing and rental markets into oblivion? Now that many of them are being deported and self deporting maybe pricing will fall.

Why not both?