- The median asking rent for a new apartment rose 1.5% year over year to $1,802 in the third quarter.
- Asking rents fell in the Northeast, while rising in the South, West and Midwest regions.
- New apartment completions rose to the highest level in at least 12 years, with the biggest jumps seen in the West and Midwest regions.
Asking rents for newly constructed apartments rose 1.5%—the biggest year-over-year increase in 18 months—to a median $1,802 in the third quarter.
The rise in rents came after two consecutive quarters where rents for new apartments fell by more than 7%.
That’s according to a Redfin analysis of the U.S. Census Bureau’s data for newly constructed, unfurnished, unsubsidized, privately financed rental apartments in buildings with five or more units, dating back to the first quarter of 2012. Regions are divided using Census definitions. The most recent data available measures apartments that were completed in the second quarter of 2024, and either rented or not rented within three months.
The median rent for newly constructed apartments bounced back above $1,800 in the third quarter for the first time since late 2023—after falling all the way to $1,714 in the second quarter, the lowest level since mid 2021.
Rents fall in the Northeast, as other regions see increases
The regional breakdown tells a number of different stories. Asking rents for new apartments actually fell year over year in the Northeast (-3.6%), after the number of newly finished apartments rose 13% year over year in the second quarter to the highest level since the fourth quarter of 2022.
The West region saw the biggest uptick in median rents (4.4%), despite seeing a 34.1% jump in new apartments being completed.
Midwest asking rents ticked up 3.3% after a 47% increase in new apartment completions. The South, which saw almost as many new apartment completions as the other three regions combined, posted a minor increase in rents (1.1%).
New Apartment Median Rents and Completions by Region (Q3 2024)
| Median New Apartment Asking Rent | Median New Apartment Asking Rent YoY | No. of New Apartments Completed | New Apartment Completions YoY | |
| Northeast | $2,300 | -3.6% | 11,390 | 13.0% |
| Midwest | $1,519 | 3.3% | 22,430 | 47.0% |
| South | $1,773 | 1.1% | 58,880 | 14.7% |
| West | $1,899 | 4.4% | 25,910 | 34.1% |
“We would usually predict that rents will stay flat, or even potentially fall, when there are so many new apartment buildings opening up. What’s interesting in the third quarter is that rents are rising by more than the national average in the West and Midwest, even after the number of new apartments spiked between 30-50%,” said Redfin Senior Economist Sheharyar Bokhari. “This is likely due to more new apartments being built in more expensive metros in each region, pushing the overall levels up.”
New apartment completions hit 12-year high
Nationally, apartment completions rose 22.6% year over year to the highest level in over 12 years in the second quarter. All four geographic regions saw increased completions, led by the Midwest (+47%) and West (+34.1%).
Asking rents rise slightly for studio, one and two-bedroom apartments
The median rent for new studio apartments rose the most in the third quarter, up 3.4% year over year to $1,597. Rents for one-bedroom apartments—the most common type of new apartment—grew 1.6% to $1,666, while two-bedroom apartments were up 0.9% to $1,961.
The median rent for less common three-or-more-bedroom apartments fell 5.1% from a year earlier to $2,189, the lowest amount in two years.
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