Where Are Rents Growing Fastest?

Washington, D.C.-area rents grew faster than those in any other major U.S. metro area, according to a new report from Redfin. As Aaron Wiener reports in The Washington Post, median rents rose by 12 percent in the last year. The highest median rents in the nation are in San Jose, California, where median rent is $3,269. 

This varies dramatically across the D.C. region: rents rose by 23.2 percent in the suburb of Laurel, Maryland, while they only grew by 1.8 percent in the District itself. “On the supply side, D.C. is on track to exceed its share of regional housing production targets, while most suburban jurisdictions are nowhere close to meeting their targets.”

“The Redfin report found the sharpest rent declines came in the Sun Belt region, where housing demand and prices shot up during the pandemic but have since cooled amid more housing production, according to economists.” The sharpest drops were in Jacksonville, Raleigh, San Diego, Austin, and Tampa.