Rents Rise More Than 14% YoY — The Biggest Jump In Two Years

Rents continue to escalate way beyond affordable levels, increasing 14.1% year-over-year in December. According to a new report by Redfin, this is the largest annual jump since at least February 2019 – the earliest month in Redfin’s rental data.

Meanwhile, the national monthly mortgage payment for homeowners climbed 26.1% year-over-year, which also marks the biggest increase in Redfin’s history. 

“The growth in mortgage payments has been driven by both climbing prices and climbing mortgage rates,” said Redfin chief economist Daryl Fairweather. “And those rising mortgage costs push more potential homebuyers into renting instead, which pushes up demand and prices for rentals. Mortgage rate increases are accelerating, which will cause both mortgage payments and rent to grow throughout 2022.”

Still, year-over-year rent increases outpaced year-over-year mortgage payments for new homebuyers in 16 of the 50 largest metros areas in December. 

Overall, rents are up more than 30% in many major metro areas. The top 10 metro areas with the largest increase in rent prices year-over-year were almost exclusively on the East Coast. The only exceptions were Austin, TX, and Portland, OR. 

The top 10 metros with the largest increases in rent prices were: 

1. Austin, TX (40%)
2. Nassau County, NY (35%)
3. New York, NY (35%)
4. Newark, NJ (35%)
5. New Brunswick, NJ (35%)
6. Miami, FL (34%)
7. West Palm Beach, FL (34%)
8. Fort Lauderdale, FL (34%)
9. Jacksonville, FL (31%)
10. Portland, OR (29%)