SEATTLE — Redfin, the residential real estate brokerage giant, has reported that the national median asking rent in June is $2,016 per month, a 14.1 percent increase year-over-year. The Seattle-based company analyzed data from 20,000 separate multifamily and single-family properties from its RentPath platform across the top 50 U.S. metro areas. The June figure is a slight increase from May at 0.7 percent, which represents the smallest month-over-month gain since the start of the year. The median asking rate is also the smallest annual increase since October 2021. Daryl Fairweather, Redfin’s chief economist, says while still elevated, the current slowdown in rent growth could be anticipatory on the part of landlords in reaction to overall inflation. (The Consumer Price Index saw its biggest annual gain since 1981 in May, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics). “Rent growth is likely slowing because landlords are seeing demand start to ease as renters get pinched by inflation,” says Fairweather. “With the cost of gas, food and other products soaring, renters have less money to spend on housing.” “This slowdown in rent increases is likely to continue, however rents are still climbing at unprecedented rates in strong job markets like New York …
