10 Most Expensive US Cities to Rent an Apartment: April 2018

At the onset of the peak rental season in the U.S., the national average monthly rent in April reached $1,377, 3.2% higher than in April 2017 and the biggest year-over-year increase since the end of 2016, RENTCafé, a nationwide apartment search website, reported Friday.

Month over month, national rents grew by 0.3%, or $4, in April.

RENTCafé’s researchers analyzed rent data across 250 U.S. cities, focusing exclusively on apartment data related to buildings containing 50 or more units. The report comprises cities with populations of more than 100,000 and a rental stock of at least 2,900 apartments.

Rent data were provided by Yardi Matrix, a business development and asset management tool for brokers, sponsors, banks and equity sources underwriting investments in the multifamily, office, industrial and self-storage sectors.

“Housing supply, rent stabilization and affordable rents are of critical interest nationwide,” Doug Ressler, Yardi Matrix’s director of business intelligence, said in a statement. “In California, growing financial pressure on tenants is driving a statewide initiative for a November referendum to lift California’s limits on rent control known as Costa Hawkins.”

Ressler said continued rent activity was expected in 22 states and the District of Columbia where housing supply had failed to keep up with economic growth in the 15 years since 2000, resulting in a total shortage of 7.3 million units, based on research by Up for Growth National Coalition.

“A key driver in the changing rental markets will be the individual or families’ cost of living and the percentage required for housing,” he said.

RENTCafé reported that rents increased in 84% of cities in April, compared with a year ago; were unchanged in 14% of cities; and decreased in 2% of cities.

It said increasing demand across the board had caused one-, two- and three-bedroom apartment rents to go up by 3.3% in April, compared with year-ago prices, while studio apartment rents rose by 2.9% year over year.

In April, the average rent for a studio apartment in the U.S. was $1,216, for a one-bedroom apartment $1,241, for a two-bedroom apartment $1,454 and for a three-bedroom unit $1,682.

Have a look at the 10 U.S. cities with the highest rents in April.

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