DC Rents Rise 3.6 Percent Since Last June

• July 1, 2016

by Nena Perry-Brown

Rents in DC over the last year rose at a rate of nearly twice that of rents nationwide, according to Apartment List’s July rent report.

Nationally, rents increased two percent over the past year, a sluggish June as compared to other months, while rents increased 3.6 percent in DC over that same time span. This strong rental growth rate does not put the District in the top ten cities with the fastest growing rents, however. The citywide median rent for a two-bedroom is $3,080 a month, while one-bedrooms go for a median rent of $2,200.

A few interesting neighborhood-level statistics from the report:

• The West End/Foggy Bottom area has the highest rents of any DC neighborhood, with a respective median rent of $4,240 and $2,570 for two- and one-bedrooms. Since last year, rents in this neighborhood have gone up by 1.8 percent.
• Mount Vernon Square and the NoMA-H Street area have seen the highest year-over-year rate increases, with respective growth of 7.9 and 7.8 percent.
• The Downtown-Penn Quarter-Chinatown area and U Street also saw strong year-over-year growth, at 6.6 and 5.5 percent respectively.

As for the larger DC area…

• Rents in Alexandria, Virginia have increased 4.5 percent over the past year. Arlington follows closely behind with rent increases of 4.3 percent.
• Rents in Bethesda have actually dropped 2.4 percent from last year, to a median of $2,880 for two-bedrooms and $2,250 for one-bedrooms.
• Although College Park is still relatively affordable, rents in this city have actually increased by 6.5 percent year-over-year, with two-bedrooms at a median rate of $1,730 and one-bedrooms at a median of $1,470.
• Another affordable anomaly in Prince George’s County is the city of Suitland, where rents have increased by 4.5 percent. However, the median rents here are still $1,300 and $1,100 respectively for two- and one-bedrooms.

The report is based on the listings available on ApartmentList.com and intend to compare the change in price for the same unit over time.

This article originally published at http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/dc_rents_up_3.6_percent_since_last_year/11418