Real Estate
Rent Prices Hike 15% From Last Year: Report
Metro Detroit remains one of the cheapest regions to rent in, but prices are still rising.

DETROIT, MI — While Detroit is still one of the cheapest metropolitan areas to rent in, rent prices have jumped more than 15% over the last year, according to a new report by Zumper. Detroit ranked as the 97th most expensive rental market in the nation this month, with one and two bedrooms settling at $610 and $680, respectively. Only in Akron Ohio and Lubbock, TX can you find cheaper rents for a metro area, the report showed. In Tulsa, OK, rent prices are comparable to metro Detroit.
Over the last month nationwide, the one bedroom median rent grew 1% last month to $1,209, while two bedrooms increased 0.4% to $1,442. But, the price of one bedroom units is up 15.1% since this time last year, according to Zumper.
The majority of the nation had generally small monthly growth rates, with the biggest changes seen in Providence, where one bedroom rent dropped 5.3% last month, and Columbus, where rent grew 5.5%. However, on a year over year basis, more than half of these 100 cities had large spikes in growth rates that were over 10%. Meanwhile, the top 10 markets had the some of the softest monthly and year over year changes.
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Top 5 rental markets
1. San Francisco, CA one bedroom rent, increasing 0.3% last month, hit the $3,500 threshold. Two bedrooms also saw some growth as well, up 1.7% to $4,680.
2. New York, NY prices were fairly flat overall with one bedrooms staying stable at $2,860 and two bedrooms inching up 0.6% to $3,220.
3. San Jose, CA one bedroom rent dropped 2% to $2,480, while two bedrooms decreased a slight 0.3% to $3,010.
4. Los Angeles, CA saw one bedroom rent climb 0.9% to $2,360, while two bedrooms grew 0.6% to $3,310. Notably, on a year over year basis, one bedroom rent here is up over 12%.
5. Boston, MA rounded out the top five cities with one bedroom rent increasing 0.9% to $2,320 and two bedrooms staying flat at $2,750.
Where it’s getting cheaper to live
Rent fell in the following cities, more than any others in the nation:
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–Oakland, CA fell one spot to rank as the seventh priciest city, now behind D.C. One bedroom rent dropped 3.2% to $2,100, while two bedrooms decreased 0.8% to $2,480.
–Fort Lauderdale, FL moved down one spot to become fifteenth. One bedroom rent took a 5% dip to $1,530, while two bedrooms saw a more modest decline, dropping 1.4% to $2,050.
–Providence, RI saw rent drop 5.3%, which was the largest monthly decline in the nation, to $1,440, and down three spots to nineteenth. Two bedrooms decreased 4.4% to $1,520.
–Fort Worth, TX took a five ranking dip to forty-sixth with one bedroom rent falling 3.7% to $1,050 and two bedrooms dropping 2.3% to $1,270.
–Reno, NV one bedroom rent fell 3.5%, settling at $820, and down six positions to become seventy-second. Two bedrooms had an ever larger rental decline, decreasing 5.5% to $1,200.
The Zumper National Rent Report analyses rental data from over 1 million active listings across the United States. Data is aggregated on a monthly basis to calculate median asking rents for the top 100 metro areas by population, providing a comprehensive view of the current state of the market. The report is based on all data available in the month prior to publication.
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