Austin rents are up—way up—again

In general, and as most Austinites know, apartment rents in the city tend to climb at a high rate, and interminably. While the local rental market saw an uncharacteristic dip last year, it has returned to its usual upward spiral, according to a recent Apartment List report.

The report finds year-over-year growth recovering robustly, up 24 percent from this time in 2020, when it had decreased 5.1 percent over the previous year. That puts it in the top 20—in 18th place, to be more specific—of the report's ranking for fastest annual rent growth in the the nation's 100 largest cities. 

It's the ninth month in a row that the city has seen median rent increases, and year-over-year growth is higher than both the state and national averages (14.3 and 15 percent, respectively). Large US cities with sharper increases during the period include Phoenix (27 percent), Miami (26 percent), and Atlanta (18.8 percent).

Month over month, Austin area rents increased 3.2 percent, which put it at number 24 on AL's national rankings for that category. Current median rents in Austin are $1,498 for a one-bedroom apartment and $1,829 for a two-bedroom, according to the report. 

AL's national rent index is up 15 percent since this time last year—slightly down from the expected July peak but higher than expected. Month over month, rents increased 2.1 percent nationally, according to the report. Among the 100 largest US cities, there are now just five with median rents are still below prepandemic levels.

Apartment List uses median rent statistics from the US Census Bureau combined with its own listings data to calculate its rent growth reports.