Austin climbs to 2nd highest year-over-year rent increase nationally

Data released by real estate brokerage company Redfin in February reported the Austin metro saw the second highest year-over-year rent increase nationally, trailing just behind Portland.

Between January 2021 and January 2022, average rent prices in the Austin metro increased 35%, per Redfin data. Portland inched just ahead, with a year-over-year increase of 39%.

All of the metros listed in the Top 10 rankings reported at least a 30% year-over-year increase, coming as no surprise given the current state of the U.S. rental and housing markets. On average, monthly asking rents increased 15.2% year-over-year in the United States in January — the highest increase since February 2020, per Redfin reports.

Only two of the country’s Top 50 metro areas saw decreases in year-over-year average rental prices: Kansas City and Milwaukee, each with nearly 4% declines.

January 2022 Year-Over-Year Metro Rent Changes
A look at the Top 50 year-over-year rental increases in the country, as of January 2022. Nationally, the average rent increased 15.2% between January 2021 and January 2022.

“Moving right now is expensive, whether you’re renting or buying,” Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather said in a release. “One of the only ways to avoid high housing costs is to move somewhere cheaper, but the list of places that are truly inexpensive is shrinking. Rising mortgage rates are squeezing more Americans out of the for-sale market, which will likely put increasing pressure on rents in the coming months.”

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