Dwellsy’s May data report reveals that while apartment rent continues to creep upward, price increases are still in the “expected” realm—and overall, the market can look forward to a period of moderation.
Los Altos, CA (June 2023) – Sorry, apartment-dwellers. Once again, you’re facing an increase in asking rent. From March to April, rent for one-bedroom apartments rose 1.1 percent, or $14. And between April and May, it edged up a further 0.5 percent, or $6.
While it may be tempting to attribute these increases to inflation or price-gouging landlords, Dwellsy CEO and cofounder Jonas Bordo says that this rent growth is to be expected—and it’s also fairly moderate.
“Everything we’re seeing is in line with a normal seasonal rent cycle, in which prices edge upward between April and October,” says Bordo, coauthor along with Hannah Hildebolt of Everything You Need to Know About Renting But Didn’t Know to Ask: All the Insider Dirt to Help You Get the Best Deal and Avoid Disaster (Matt Holt, August 2023, ISBN: 978-1-6377439-2-8, $21.95).
“Having lived in numerous apartments myself, I understand that any increase in rent is unwelcome, but let’s be honest—$6 a month is probably not going to bust your budget. These days, that amount might not even buy you a meal at a drive-thru.”
Lest you feel too disgruntled, Bordo adds that your apartment is still likely to be less expensive than it was at this time last year. From May 2022 to May 2023, asking rent for a one-bedroom apartment has decreased 1.1 percent, or $15.
“Since January 2021, when Dwellsy began tracking this data, rent for one-bedroom apartments has declined by 1.5 percent,” he notes. “This plays into a storyline of moderation in the rental market, which is good news for everyone…except maybe landlords.”
That said, in some areas, apartment prices are anything but moderate. Many of these markets have notoriously high costs of living across the board, while others are experiencing surges in demand that translate to meaningful rent increases. Spoiler alert: California is especially costly.
Having data like this is important for anyone who is relocating, or who just wants to know how their city fits into the broader rental market.
“If you’re just browsing rental listings in various cities, it can be nearly impossible to pick out developing trends and plan for the future,” Bordo says. “It’s also tough to determine which prices are fair, especially since median asking rent can fluctuate month-to-month.”
Dwellsy, the largest home rental listing platform in the country, regularly mines its 14+ million residential rental listings for statistics and data. Because Dwellsy allows landlords to post listings free of charge, it has a pool of data that’s more diverse—and more representative of the true rental landscape—than that of pay-to-play listing services.
Each month, Dwellsy breaks down this data regionally across the U.S. so renters and landlords can see up-to-date trends in rental housing and current affordability in over 250 U.S. markets. For a more detailed look at Dwellsy’s rent price analysis methodology, see this article.
When compiling this list of most expensive cities for apartment-dwellers, Bordo has focused on one-bedroom units because they are similar to two-bedroom apartments in terms of inventory, but are more price-accessible.
Top Ten Most Expensive Large Cities for One-Bedroom Apartment Rentals
Among America’s big cities, the New York metro area—which includes Long Island and parts of New Jersey and Pennsylvania—stands out on two counts. It has the most expensive asking rent ($3,241) and the biggest rent increase since May 2022 (9.9 percent). California also deserves a shoutout, with five cities on the top-ten leaderboard.
“A glance at year-over-year rent changes reveals something interesting,” points out Bordo. “Six of the ten markets here have falling rents, which supports a moderation forecast. Rents in the San Diego area are 9.1 percent less expensive than they were a year ago. And with the exception of the Big Apple (sorry, New Yorkers!), rent increases in the cities that have gotten more expensive are all tracking below inflation.”
This table shows which large cities had the most expensive May 2023 asking rent for one-bedroom apartments.
|
Rank |
Metropolitan Statistical Area |
Median One-Bedroom Apartment Asking Rent, May 2023 |
Change Since May 2022 |
|
1 |
New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA |
$3,241 |
+ 9.9% |
|
2 |
Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH |
$2,500 |
– 4.0% |
|
3 |
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA |
$2,495 |
+ 2.5% |
|
4 |
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA |
$2,383 |
+ 1.6% |
|
5 |
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA |
$2,095 |
– 0.1% |
|
6 |
Washington-Arlington- Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV |
$2,053 |
– 2.2% |
|
7 |
San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA |
$1,996 |
– 9.1% |
|
8 |
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA |
$1,845 |
– 2.8% |
|
9 |
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA |
$1,733 |
– 1.1% |
|
10 |
Honolulu, HI |
$1,706 |
+ 1.9% |
Top Ten Most Expensive Small Cities for One-Bedroom Apartment Rentals
If you thought West Coast living might be a little less expensive in a smaller city, well…you’d be wrong. Six of these ten markets are located in California, including number one Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-Goleta, which has an asking rent of $2,173.
“Only three of these cities have a year-over-year rent decrease,” Bordo says. “Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown, New York, stands out from the crowd with a 21.7 percent rise in rent since May 2022. But hey—you can rent an apartment in an old underwear factory, so…worth it?”
This table shows which small cities had the most expensive May 2023 asking rent for one-bedroom apartments.
|
Rank |
Metropolitan Statistical Area |
Median One-Bedroom Apartment Asking Rent, May 2023 |
Change Since May 2022 |
|
1 |
Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-Goleta, CA |
$2,173 |
+ 3.5% |
|
2 |
Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA |
$1,995 |
+ 7.8% |
|
3 |
Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT |
$1,933 |
– 4.6% |
|
4 |
Salinas, CA |
$1,875 |
+ 5.6% |
|
5 |
Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown, NY |
$1,825 |
+ 21.7% |
|
6 |
Vallejo-Fairfield, CA |
$1,800 |
– 5.4% |
|
6 |
San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA |
$1,800 |
+ 0.0% |
|
8 |
Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA |
$1,799 |
+ 5.8% |
|
9 |
North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota, FL |
$1,755 |
+ 17.0% |
|
10 |
Bozeman, MT |
$1,745 |
– 3.1% |
“Don’t be surprised if apartment rents continue to edge upward throughout the summer,” concludes Bordo. “Remember, rising prices at this time of the year are to be expected. But those increases should be modest, especially as new apartments enter the market and inflation continues to dampen prices.”
About Jonas Bordo:
Jonas Bordo is the coauthor, along with Hannah Hildebolt, of the upcoming book Everything You Need to Know About Renting But Didn’t Know to Ask: All the Insider Dirt to Help You Get the Best Deal and Avoid Disaster. He is the CEO and cofounder of Dwellsy, the free residential rental marketplace that makes it easy to find hard-to-find rentals.
About the Book:
Everything You Need to Know About Renting But Didn’t Know to Ask: All the Insider Dirt to Help You Get the Best Deal and Avoid Disaster (Matt Holt, August 2023, ISBN: 978-1-6377439-2-8, $21.95) is available for pre-order from major online booksellers.
About Dwellsy:
Dwellsy is the renter’s marketplace: a comprehensive residential home rentals marketplace based on the radical concept that true, organic search in a free ecosystem creates more value than the pay-to-play model embraced by all of the current rental listing services.
