While many other major apartment markets in the U.S. turned to at least mild rent cuts in 2020, Kansas City maintained modest growth. In the year-ending January 2021, Kansas City saw effective asking rents climb 0.7%, a strong performance compared to the U.S. overall, where rent cuts are still the norm. While ahead of the national average, however, Kansas City’s annual rent growth rate as of January is still the lowest the market has seen since the Great Recession. Among the major Midwest markets, Kansas City’s recent rent growth performance is one of the mildest. In fact, only Minneapolis and Chicago – where rents are being cut – performed worse. The Midwest region in general has maintained a relatively strong performance compared to other areas nationwide, with all but those two lagging markets ranking ahead of the U.S. average for rent change.
