Kent apartment rents decrease 0.3% in November

Published 12:38 pm Wednesday, December 1, 2021

Apartment rents in Kent decreased 0.3% in November compared to October, snapping a streak of nine consecutive months of increases.

Rents, however, are up 14.2% compared to November 2020, according to apartmentlist.com. Rents are up 14.7% since the start of the pandemic in March 2020.

“After a wild 2021, rent growth is finally flattening out across the United States,” according to apartmentlist.com. “In November, our national rent index increased a marginal 0.1%, the lowest growth rate we’ve measured all year. Prices have risen nearly 18% in 2021, but as we enter the slow winter season, the market is finally beginning to cool.”

Median rents in Kent currently stand at $1,477 for an one-bedroom apartment and $1,890 for a two-bedroom.

Kent’s year-over-year rent growth of 14.2% lags the state average of 20.3%, as well as the national average of 17.7%.

This month, rents fell in 53 of the nation’s 100 largest cities. Boise, Idaho saw the largest decline for the second straight month (3.7%), and prices fell in other fast-growing cities that saw major rent growth this year, like Spokane (3.1%), and Reno, Nevada (3%). But they also fell in some of the nation’s largest and most expensive cities, like San Francisco (2.7%), Seattle (2.1%), and Boston (1.9%).

In the Seattle-Tacoma area, Bellevue has seen rents fall by 2.2% over the past month, the biggest drop in the metro area. It’s also the most expensive city in the Seattle area with a two-bedroom median of $2,487.

Seattle proper has seen the fastest rent growth in the metro area, with a year-over-year increase of 22.6%. The median two-bedroom there costs $2,133, while one-bedrooms go for $1,710.

Lakewood has the least expensive rents in the Seattle-Tacoma area, with a two-bedroom median of $1,568; rents fell 0.9% over the past month but rose 17.5% over the past year.

Rents increased sharply in other cities across the state, with Washington as a whole logging rent growth of 20.3% over the past year. For example, rents have grown by 28.1% in Spokane and 14.3% in Vancouver.

Kent’s median two-bedroom rent of $1,890 is above the national average of $1,285.

Renters will generally find more expensive prices in Kent than most large cities. For example, Spokane has a median two-bedroom rent of $1,361.