Kent apartment rents drop 0.4% in July; up 14% compared to last year

Apartment rents in Kent dropped 0.4% in July but are up 14% in comparison to the same time last year.

Median rents in Kent stand at $1,472 for a one-bedroom apartment and $1,897 for a two-bedroom, according to the latest monthly report from apartmentlist.com. Kent’s year-over-year rent growth leads the state average of 11.6%, as well as the national average of 12.3%.

Over the past month, Kent is the only city in the Seattle-Tacoma metro area that has seen rents fall. Rents had gone up five consecutive months since a slight decline in January of 0.2%.

Throughout the past year, rent increases have increased across the entire metro area.

Redmond has the most expensive rents, with a two-bedroom median of $2,492; the city has also seen rent growth of 17.8% over the past year, the fastest in the metro area, according to apartmentlist.com.

Lakewood has the least expensive rents in the Seattle metro, with a two-bedroom median of $1,451; rents were up 0.6% over the past month and 5.8% over the past year.

As rents have increased sharply in Kent, a few large cities nationwide have seen rents grow more modestly. Compared to most large cities across the country, Kent is less affordable for renters.

Rents increased significantly in other cities across the state, with Washington as a whole logging rent growth of 11.6% over the past year.

Kent’s median two-bedroom rent of $1,897 is above the national average of $1,358. Nationwide, rents have grown by 12.3% over the past year compared to the 14% rise in Kent.

While Kent’s rents rose sharply over the past year, many cities nationwide also saw increases, including New York City (+21.2%), Austin (+14.6%), and Phoenix (+12.5%).

Renters will generally find more expensive prices in Kent than most large cities. For example, Spokane has a median two-bedroom rent of $1,299, where Kent is nearly one-and-a-half times that price.