Arlington’s apartment-rental costs continued a seasonal slide in November, but remained the highest outside California in a national survey.
According to figures reported Dec. 3 by Apartment List, the median rent in Arlington was $2,398 for a one-bedroom unit, $2,898 for two bedrooms and $2,547 overall. That’s down 0.9% month-over-month, compared to a 1% decrease nationally, and is down 0.3% year-over-year.
Declining prices in Arlington may largely be due to a higher vacancy rate countywide.
In November, the countywide vacancy rate was 6.8%, up 2 percentage points from this time last year, according to the Apartment List data analysis.
In the monthly Apartment List survey of 100 large urban areas nationally, Arlington retained its position of fifth highest. Ahead of it were four California corridors: San Francisco ($3,065), Irvine ($3,056), San Jose ($2,884) and Fremont ($2,745).
At the bottom of the list was Toledo, where the median monthly rent for November was $901.
Among areas similar to Arlington across Northern Virginia:
- In Tysons, the median rent was $2,318 for one-bedroom units, $2,779 for two bedrooms, down 1.6% year over year
- In Alexandria, the median rent was $1,996/$2,452, down 1.8%
- In Reston, the median rent was $2,167/$2,295, up 0.9%
Across the Washington region for the month, the median rental cost was $2,143.
Nationally, the median rent for the month was $1,201 for one-bedroom units, $1,353 for two bedrooms and $1,367 overall.
Year-over-year rent growth has been slightly negative for over two full years, and the national median rent has now fallen from its 2022 peak by a total of 5.2%, Apartment List analysts said.
Among points made by Apartment List analysts in the national report:
- November rents “fell in nearly every large metropolitan area across the country”
- “Rent prices nationally are down 1.1% compared to one year ago. Year-over-year rent growth has been slightly negative for over two full years, and the national median rent has now fallen from its 2022 peak by a total of 5.2%”
- “The national multifamily vacancy rate remains at 7.2% this month, a record high for our index. We’re past the peak of a multifamily construction surge, but a healthy supply of new units are still hitting the market and colliding with sluggish demand, causing vacancies to continue trending up”
- “Units are taking an average of 36 days to get leased after being listed, two days longer than at this time last year”
According to the data, the Austin metro currently has the softest conditions among the nation’s large rental markets, with the median rent there down by 6.8% over the past year in the November data.
At the other end of the spectrum, the Providence, R.I., metro area had the largest year-over-year rent growth at 5.2%.
