Rent growth for single-family homes is slowing sharply, underscoring a cooling trend that has replaced the rapid gains of the pandemic boom. According to Cotality, single-family rental rates rose 2.3% year-over-year in July, a notable decline from the 3.1% pace recorded in July 2024 and now below the 10-year pre-pandemic average.
While rental prices continue to rise, the rate at which they are increasing has weakened considerably. Monthly growth in July came in at just under 0.2%, well below the historical average for the month of 0.7%. “It’s clearly losing steam,” said Molly Boesel, senior principal economist at Cotality, who noted that strong-demand markets such as Los Angeles are beginning to cool despite recent pressures like post-wildfire housing needs. Chicago remained a counter-example, with rents there continuing to climb. Other markets running against the slowdown included Atlanta and Philadelphia.
By price segment, higher-end homes posted a 2.9% year-over-year increase, down modestly from 3.2% in July 2024. At the lower end of the market, rents rose 1.6%, slowing from the prior year’s 2.8% growth. Detached single-family rentals saw rents up 2.2% annually, while attached units gained 1.8%. These figures stand in stark contrast to the pandemic peak of 2022, when annual rent growth routinely topped 13% to 14%.
Several metro areas posted stronger-than-average gains in July. Chicago led with a 5.1% year-over-year increase and a median rent of $2,708. New York followed at 3.7% ($3,914), with Philadelphia at 3.4% ($1,720) and Los Angeles at 3.1% ($3,882). Other strong gainers included Washington, D.C, with growth at 2.9% ($3,440), while Atlanta posted 2.6% ($2,127). Slower increases were evident in Detroit, up 1.8% ($1,906), Houston at 1.4% ($1,929) and Dallas at just 0.1% ($2,315). Miami was unchanged from a year earlier at $2,980.
Cotality’s Single-Family Rent Index is based on a repeat-pairing methodology that tracks changes from new listings in the Multiple Listing Service rather than realized rents after concessions. The dataset draws on 11 million individually-owned rental homes, covering more than 75% of the U.S. single-family rental market across all 50 states and 17,500 ZIP codes. To break out trends, the index uses four pricing tiers: lower-priced rentals, defined as 75% or less of the regional median; lower-middle at 75% to 100% of the median; higher-middle at 100% to 125% of the median; and higher-priced at 125% or more above the regional average.
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