January was a fairly flat month when it comes to rental growth, however a shift once again gave California six of the top 10 most expensive rental markets in the U.S.
While most of the top 10 cities remained flat, Santa Ana rejoined the ranks, giving California six of the top 10 cities, according to a monthly rental report from Zumper. It replaced Miami as the 10th most expensive city.
California cities in the top 10 now include San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles, Oakland, San Diego and Santa Ana. Three of those cities are in the top 5 most expensive markets.
Fewer cities saw double-digit price growth in January. And on a monthly basis, Louisville, Kentucky, saw the largest rental growth rate for one bedroom apartments at 4.8%, while Columbus, Ohio, took the largest monthly dip at 5.4%.
Overall, as the chart below shows, national one bedroom rent actually fell 0.4% to $1,212 in January, while two bedrooms increased slightly by 0.1% to $1,442. Annually, one bedroom rent is down 2.5% while two bedroom rent is up 3.7%.
Click to Enlarge
(Source: Zumper)
These slowdowns and even decreases bring many renters much-needed relief as affordability has been a major concern for Americans throughout 2018, as mortgage rates and rents both reached record highs.
Here are the top five rental markets in the U.S.:
5. Los Angeles, California: One bedroom rent decreased a slight 0.8% to $2,400, while two bedrooms saw an even smaller dip, down 0.6% to $3,200.
4. Boston, Massachusetts: One bedroom rent fell 1.2% to $2,420, while two bedrooms grew 1.5% to $2,740.
3. San Jose, California: One bedroom rent grew 1.6% to $2,530, while two bedrooms increased 1% to $3,030.
2. New York City, New York: One bedroom rent increased 1.1% to $2,780, while two bedrooms grew 2.9% to $3,200.
1. San Francisco, California: One bedroom rent grew 2.3% to $3,580, while two bedrooms decreased a slight 0.2% to $4,640.
