Seattle sees steepest rent declines among major US metros

Whereas Puget Sound housing stays among the many costliest within the nation, Seattle noticed the steepest month-to-month decline in lease amongst main metros in December, primarily based on a Zillow report launched yesterday.

Driving the information: Typical rents within the Seattle space fell 1% month over month to $2,166 in December, in response to the Zillow Noticed Lease Index (ZORI).

• That is the steepest month-to-month lease decline within the nation, adopted by Las Vegas, the place lease was down .9%, and Dallas, down .8%.
• Nationally, asking rents fell .3% from November to December.
• Nonetheless, the standard lease within the U.S. proper now’s $1,981, 7.4% greater than this time final 12 months.

Why it issues: Lease costs in February 2022 had gone up a staggering 17.1% over the earlier 12 months, impacted by the 2021 pandemic-era housing increase, in response to Zillow analysts. However demand is now waning as a consequence of greater rents and inflation.

• Zillow reported that the elevated variety of individuals dwelling with housemates, roommates or kin can be placing stress on landlords to maintain rents in examine.

What they’re saying: “We at all times see a seasonal drop within the rental market demand round December,” Zillow spokeswoman Gina Cole advised Axios Seattle. “However the decline we simply noticed is way bigger than the earlier Decembers.”

The underside line: Rents are nonetheless greater than they have been a 12 months in the past in all prime 50 metro areas besides Las Vegas, Zillow experiences, with the standard lease in Seattle up $102 from final 12 months.