A Snapshot of Apartment Rents in the DC Area

• January 7th

by Nena Perry-Brown

All signs point to a strengthening apartment market in the DC area, although a new report is adding a caveat.

ApartmentList's national rent report shows that rent in DC increased 12% year-over-year in 2021, compared to a 12.4% drop in the year prior. Despite the rent increase, the report finds that rents are still 3% lower than when the pandemic began in March 2020.

A quick look at rents around the region reveals that Chevy Chase saw the highest rent growth in the DC area, with median rents increasing by 21%. Median rents in Arlington increased by 17% over the past year, and in Rockville, rents increased by 16%. Hyattsville was the only city in the area where rents fell, decreasing by 2.4%.

At least in DC, rents have not recovered from where they were on the cusp of the pandemic. As shown in the table above, the median rent for a one-bedroom apartment was $1,782 in December compared to $1,831 in March 2020. In Montgomery, Prince George's, and Arlington counties, however, along with Alexandria, rents in December were higher than they were in March 2020. Prince George's County is the only jurisdiction in the immediate area where median rents continued to increase throughout the pandemic.

The ApartmentList report uses same-unit transacted rent prices from the American Community Survey.

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/a-snapshot-of-apartment-rents-in-the-dc-area/19119.