U.S. Rent Growth Turns Positive Year Over Year for the First Time in Over Three Years, at a $1,384 Median
Year-over-year rent growth in the United States turned positive in October for the first time since mid-2023, according to Apartment List's latest National Rent Report (the November 2026 update, with data as of October 2026). The national median rent stands at $1,384 a month, 0.1 percent above a year earlier, a difference of just $1.
By unit size, the median rent is $1,215 for one-bedroom units and $1,369 for two-bedroom units. Month over month, rents fell 0.3 percent in October, a second consecutive monthly decline reflecting the fall off-season, but a much smaller drop than the 0.8 percent decline a year earlier and slightly smaller than the 2017-2019 average of 0.4 percent. Rents remain 4 percent, or $58, below their mid-2022 peak.
The national multifamily vacancy rate is 7.0 percent, down from a February peak of 7.3 percent but still above long-run norms; Apartment List expects it will take some time to return to the 2017-2019 average of 6.4 percent. Units leased in October had been listed for an average of 36 days, the longest October reading since tracking began in 2019.
Concessions remain widespread: 32 percent of multifamily properties nationally offered concessions worth at least one month of free rent in October, four percentage points above a year earlier, a sign that conditions remain soft in many markets even as prices and occupancy recover.
Regionally, 35 of the 55 large metro areas with populations over one million saw rents rise year over year. The San Francisco and San Jose metros led growth at about 13 percent and 9 percent, while San Antonio posted the sharpest decline at 3.8 percent and Austin's decline moderated to 1.2 percent. Apartment List said 2026 is on track to be the first year since 2022 with positive full-year rent growth.
Apartment List National Rent Report
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 马萨诸塞州阿灵顿的砖砌公寓楼（资料图）。CC0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Brick apartment buildings in Arlington, Massachusetts (file photo). CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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