Rent has fallen for the 37th consecutive month, as more landlords offer concessions for renters
The average rent is trending down across the country. According to a new report, rent has continued to fall for just over three years as of August 2026.
The data comes from Realtor.com’s Monthly Rent Report, which found that the national median asking rent dropped 0.9% year-over-year across the 50 largest metro areas for an average of $1,699. That brings the average asking rent down 3.7%, or $65 less than where it sat in the summer of 2022.
It’s not just the smallest spaces that saw a decline in rent, either. Studio rentals dropped by 1.2%, one-bedrooms went down 0.8%, and two-bedrooms fell by 0.9%.
While rent is continuously falling across the board, the average asking rent remains higher than their pre-pandemic rates. Two-bedrooms remain the highest above their pre-pandemic rate, up 17.7% from August 2019, while one-bedroom rents are 14.4% higher, and studio rents are 13.1% higher. Overall, rent is still 15.4% higher than the August 2019 average.
Regardless, as mortgage rates recently climbed to the highest level in a year, lower monthly payments are a helpful perk for renters. And it’s not the only one. Landlords are also allowing renters more concessions in order to get tenants into homes for less, such as waived application fees, rent credits, and even periods where no rent is due.
Concessions rose 3.1% from a year earlier, with 43.5% of studio, one, and two-bedroom rental listings offering at least one concession. In some areas, the rate of concessions was much higher, like Denver, where 71.9% of listings offered concessions, as well as Austin, Las Vegas, and Nashville, at 70.7%, 69.6%, and 69.0%, respectively.
According to a survey of independent landlords from Avail, which is a part of Realtor.com‘s network, a higher rate of concessions can be a response to an increase in vacancies and weak renter demand. 33.3% of landlords coping with those market issues offered concessions, while 25.9% considered them, and 24.1% lowered base rent to help put renters in homes.
Overall, as rents are continuing to fall and concessions rise, those who are looking to rent in the coming season may find they have more options than they previously thought, Jiayi Xu, senior economist at Realtor.com explained in a press release.
Xu said, “Renters are entering the fall with more choices and more negotiating power than they had at the height of the rental market. Rents are still above pre-pandemic levels, but the combination of continued year-over-year declines, new supply and a growing share of listings with concessions is creating more opportunities for renters to find better deals.”
Xu continued, “We expect the typical seasonal slowdown in monthly rents this fall, with year-over-year declines likely to continue as rental supply works through the market.”
While largely, rent declined as concessions went up, in some areas, like San Jose, California, and San Francisco, the reverse was true. Concessions dropped the most sharply, as rent rose 4.7% and 4.5%, respectively. The report theorized that those locations are likely in high demand as AI-driven wealth is reshaping home trends there.
