10 Cities Where Rents Have Fallen the Most This Year

Rent prices continue to fall. According to Redfin data, the median asking rent peaked in early 2022 and has dropped to $1,937. It's technically the cheapest rent has been in 13 months, but rent still feels expensive for two reasons.

First, the price drop is negligible. Rent is about $100 more affordable than at its 2022 peak. Cheaper, but a far cry from pre-pandemic levels. Second, not all cities are cheaper for renters. Areas like Cleveland, Ohio, have sharply increased in price.

In some cases, things really have gotten cheaper for renters. According to Redfin, these are the 10 cities where rent has fallen the most since last March:

1. Austin, Texas 
2. Chicago, Illinois 
3. New Orleans, Louisiana
4. Birmingham, Alabama 
5. Cincinnati, Ohio
6. Sacramento, California 
7. Las Vegas, Nevada 
8. Atlanta, Georgia 
9. Phoenix, Arizona 
10. Baltimore, Maryland 

Let's take a closer look at the top three cities where rent has fallen the most since March 2022.

1. Austin, Texas (-11%)

Rentals are on serious discounts in the live music capital of the world. Generally speaking, rent prices surged post-pandemic, and they're finally slowing their rise into the money stratosphere. In places like Austin, they've even dipped noticeably.

As of March, the median list price for an Austin listing had fallen from $2,335.44 to $2,104.

2. Chicago, Illinois (-9.2%)

Chicago also saw significant discounts in prices. According to one Redfin real estate agent, many homeowners became landlords during the pandemic, leading to more houses for rent. Combined with a national softening of rent demand, it's pushed down prices.

As of March, the median rental price for a Chicago listing was $2,206.

3. New Orleans, Louisiana (-3%)

New Orleans listings dipped in price, albeit not much compared to last year. The New Orleans housing market is not particularly competitive right now, indicating a lack of interest in moving out. Landlords may be lowering prices to entice renters to the area -- good news for renters.

As of March, the median rental price for a New Orleans listing was $1,792.

Rent prices are trending flat

Most cities on the list (barring Austin and Chicago) only had slight decreases in rent. More important is the overall trend in the rental market: Prices seem to be teeter-tottering to a standstill, neither rising nor falling dramatically. 

According to Redfin, rent has fallen 0.4% since last March, but rent is still much higher than before the pandemic. It's unclear whether prices will continue to fall from here. 

Seasonality and recessions impact prices

Folks looking to rent may be interested in renting now or delaying their search to avoid high Summer prices, the busiest season for renters. Rent is typically cheapest during the winter, between December and February, when demand is lowest.

If the U.S. falls into a recession later this year (entirely possible), rent prices will likely fall. A recession may also impact salaries, so be cautious of relying on a downturn to drop rental prices -- employees may lose their jobs, and workers may not get pay increases.

Renting is cheaper than homeownership in the short term. (Now that mortgage rates are up, that's truer than ever.) Financial experts typically recommend that renters spend no more than 30% of their actual income on rent or mortgage payments.

Consider starting your search for a new home in cities where rent is getting cheaper, starting with the 10 cities where rents have fallen the most this year. Or check out the most affordable cities with the highest salaries and lowest cost of living to find out where folks are getting paid big to rent cheaply. Renters have options!