As the housing market has exploded, home prices have risen nationwide as much as 19% per month year over year in the second half of 2021. While the cost to buy a home had moved higher in almost every city, the migration of Americans from large coastal cities like New York and San Francisco has pushed prices even higher in some popular inland cities like Boise and Phoenix.
Home prices in some California and northeastern cities are twice as high as the national median, which means people think there are bargains elsewhere. While this may be true, the spike in prices almost everywhere means there are few places people can call cheap. However, it is true that the overall cost of living can be lower outside America’s largest metro areas. The ability to buy a home has been helped in the past several years by low mortgage rates, but that has begun to change.
Some city residents believe there is an advantage to renting. People are not locked into a long-term obligation. The cost to rent may be cheaper than to own. However, for the most part, rents have risen in lockstep with home prices because available inventory for both rentals and homes is so low in dozens of cities.
Not every city has rising rents. The recently issued Big Cities Where Rent Prices Are Actually Decreasing report from Rent.com considered rents in the 100 largest cities for one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments in December 2020 and December 2021. According to the report, “Rent prices are based on a rolling weighted average from Rent.com’s multifamily rental property inventory.”
Some cities on the list are older industrial metros that have seen declines in population, such as Indianapolis and St Paul.
The city where rents fell the most over the period measured was Toledo, Ohio. The monthly price for a one-bedroom dropped about 23%.
Here are the 10 big cities where rent is falling:
| City | 1-BR | 2-BR |
|---|---|---|
| Toledo, Ohio | −23.03% | −0.45% |
| Huntsville, Ala. | −18.5% | −5.01% |
| Kansas City, Mo. | −11.76% | −8.74% |
| Lincoln, Neb. | −11.54% | −18.43% |
| Indianapolis, Ind. | −9.03% | −3.28% |
| Philadelphia, Pa. | −7.71% | −22.47% |
| Atlanta, Ga. | −6.99% | −2.42% |
| Durham, N.C. | −3.30% | −12.81% |
| Saint Paul, Minn. | −1.77% | −3.23% |
| Tacoma, Wash. | −1.59% | −2.43% |
Click here to see which are the most expensive cities in which to buy a home.
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