Rents Rise in Most Expensive U.S. Cities, But Drop in DC Area

• November 5, 2013
• 8 Comments

by UrbanTurf Staff

Apartment rents continue to rise in the most expensive metropolitan areas in the country. That is, except for the DC region.

Trulia’s latest Price and Rent Monitor reveals that as rents head north in places like San Francisco and Seattle, they are dropping slightly in the DC area (identified pretty broadly by Trulia, as it includes sections of West Virginia). Between October 2012 and October 2013, rents actually fell in the DC region by 1.4 percent. The area remains the seventh most expensive place to rent a home in the county, but it was the only metropolitan area in the top ten where rents fell, year-over-year.

Courtesy of Trulia.

Trulia uses the median rent for a two-bedroom apartment as the metric by which to track rent movement. In San Francisco, that comes to $3,250 a month, which makes it the most expensive rental market in the country. The median rent for a two-bedroom in the DC area comes to $2,100 a month. In Phoenix, St. Louis and Las Vegas, the median rent for two-bedrooms comes in south of $1,000 a month.

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This article originally published at http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/rents_rise_in_10_most_expensive_u.s._cities_but_drop_in_dc_area/7782

8 Comments

1. rob said at 7:18 pm on Tuesday November 5, 2013:
   come on, they include west virgina, virgina, and maryland in the DC calculation. DC is up there with NY and SF, rent for 2 beds in DC are like 3K and higher

1. Sabrina said at 8:19 pm on Tuesday November 5, 2013:
   Thats why the best option is to rent right outside of DC, in Silver Spring. I live at an amazing apartment community thats an 8 minute walk to the metro station and I only pay $1760 for rent on a two bedroom and that includes all utilities and parking!! If you are looking in the area, visit Summit Hills Apartments and tell them I sent you!!

1. Duponter said at 8:35 pm on Tuesday November 5, 2013:
   Yes, and they include New York metro area (including New Jersey) as well in this calculation. This isn't a comparison of rent. It's a comparison in changes to rent. The rental market in DC is becoming more competitive because of so much new product. It is still no doubt still very high, but more supply is going to have an impact. As people move East in DC, the rents in the West will come down. You can already see it in the western parts of DuPont where they are stagnating a bit because those neighborhoods are not as popular as Logan or U Street anymore.

1. HappyRicardian said at 8:49 pm on Tuesday November 5, 2013:
   "The rental market in DC is becoming more competitive because of so much new product. " But I was told supply doesn't lower rent. Supply and demand doesn't apply to housing. New buildings "induce" yuppies and raise rents. Could it be that supply and demand DOES apply to housing?

1. jim said at 9:04 pm on Tuesday November 5, 2013:
   Of course supply/demand matters - what a silly statement. It's just much more nuanced than most people assume.

1. V said at 2:54 pm on Wednesday November 6, 2013:
   As a landlord in the Logan area, there is clearly a difference compared to about 2 years ago. Much more supply, i.e. unit and pricing options for prospective tenants, things do not move quite as fast, and pricing needs to be more competitive. There is a huge amount of supply still coming on (all the developers piling on) and this will continue to have an impact; DC's population growth might not, as some project, continue at its recent rates.

1. Former NJ resident said at 5:53 pm on Wednesday November 6, 2013:
   Duponter: Yes, and rent is North Jersey is still way higher than rent in West Virginia. Unless the metro regions are all of equal size geographically this isn't a fair comparison.

1. BTA said at 7:52 pm on Wednesday November 6, 2013:
   Supply and Demand works on a macro or regional level for sure. People get confused because they often think at hyper local levels. New buildings can lead to higher rents in gentrifying neighborhoods but the overall supply increase should work against rising rents in the region.