We've seen a "returning to normal" pattern in apartment rents so far in 2022 as demand (for all types of housing) has slowed and vacancy (though still low) ticks up. Effective asking rents fell in September in more than half (80) of the nation's 150 largest metros, according to data from RealPage Market Analytics. Among the markets that saw rents fall by 1% or more in September, most were smaller markets, including everyone's new favorite: Boise. Just missing the top 11 (among big metros): Austin -0.91%, Nashville -0.88%, Sacramento -0.79%, Phoenix -0.74%, Atlanta -0.72%. Gateway notables: San Francisco (-0.46%), Seattle (-0.34%), Washington DC (-0.29%). By comparison, in September 2021, same-store effective asking rents fell in only 8 of the nation's largest 150 metros. Prior to COVID-19, rent cuts were seasonally more common in September – and the national average of -0.2% in September 2022 was pretty much on par with pre-COVID norms for September.
