Rent fell faster over last year in metro Phoenix than anywhere else in US

PHOENIX — No metro area among the nation’s 50 largest saw a faster decline in residential rent over the last 12 months than the Valley, according to a recent report.

Greater Phoenix renters paid 6.73% less in January 2023 than a year earlier, according to trends tracked by Rent.com.

However, the website said January’s median rent of $2,016 in the Phoenix area was .62% higher than December’s. And it’s nearly 4% higher than the national figure of $1,942.

Just 11 of the 50 markets tracked saw a year-over-year rent decline in January. Oklahoma City was the only metro other than Phoenix to fall more than 6%.

The Valley rent trend carried to the state level, but to a smaller degree. Arizona saw the second-largest year-over-year decline for January, down 2.64%, behind only Idaho’s 5.79% fall.

On the other end of the spectrum, Florida had the largest annual rent increase among states at 19.74%, while Raleigh-Cary, North Carolina, surged a nation-leading 22.53%.

Nationally, rents went up 2.37% between January 2022 and 2023. That was the smallest annual change in 20 months, according to Rent.com.

“Price slowdowns are being driven by broad trends across the rental industry, including increased vacancy rates, new inventory, a cooling housing market and demand that is below seasonal norms,” the website said last week. “But also by price comparisons that today are also being measured against rents that had increased by historic levels just a year ago.”

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