From staff reports SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Rents fell by 0.8% to $1,720 in Octo ber, marking their 15th consecutive month of year-over-year declines and falling the most for smaller-sized units, according to the Realtor.com's October rental report.
Looking ahead, new rental properties entering the market are expected to put continued downward pressure on rents next year, according to the report.
“New multifamily construction projects started in the last two years have hit the market in 2024, with a gr eater supply of units helping to soften rents and bring renters some relief,' said Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com. “While we expect fewer multifamily homes to be f inished in 2025, we still anticipate enough to increase supply, which will keep downward pressure on rents.” Growing supply remains key More completed multifamily homes made their way to the market in 2024 as projects begun in 2022 a nd 2023 were finished, according to the report.
Between January and September, the average seasonally adjusted annual rate of multifamily completions reached 606,000 units, according to the report. That number was up from 445,000 units in the sa me period in 2023, and higher than the 2017-19 pre-pandemic average of 359,000 units.
A lower rate of completion is anticipated for next year, but rental housing stock is still expected to rise by 1.1% to more than 49 million units b y fall 2025, according to the report. That would be 6.7% higher than in the fall of 2019, before the pandemic.