Zumper: Median Apartment Rent Growth Turns Positive After Year of Annual Declines

The Zumper National Rent Index showed the median one-bedroom rent rose 0.5% month-over-month to $1,526, while two-bedroom rent increased 0.1% to $1,905. On an annual basis, one-bedroom rent is now up 0.4%, its first positive year-over-year reading since May 2025, while two-bedroom rent sits 0.3% below the year-ago period.

The declines in the annual one-bedroom figures have decelerated for six consecutive months, finally crossing into positive territory in June. After bottoming at -2.2% last November, the annual change narrowed to -0.6% in April and -0.1% in May before turning positive this month.

Zumper CEO Shawn Mullahy said, “The biggest story in housing is still supply. The national average hides what’s really happening: rent trends are diverging sharply by market, and the common denominator is inventory. Where supply remains elevated, rents are still soft, although the declines are moderating. Where supply is constrained, rents are rising—sometimes aggressively. The national rent index is simply the midpoint between those two realities.”

San Francisco posted Y-O-Y rent growth of 21.9% in June. In contrast, the Texas cities of Houston, Austin and San Antonio all withstood annual declines greater than 10%.