Apartment rents in Kent jumped 8.7% in June compared to the same month in 2020.
Kent rents have increased 2.6% over the past month, according to apartmentlist.com. Currently, median rents are at $1,392 for a one-bedroom apartment and $1,782 for a two-bedroom unit.
This is the fourth straight month that the city has seen rent increases after a decline in February. Kent’s year-over-year rent growth leads the state average of 4.6%, as well as the national average of 8.4%.
Throughout the past year, rent increases have been occurring not just in Kent, but across the entire Seattle-Tacoma metro area.
Tacoma has seen the fastest rent growth in the metro, with a year-over-year increase of 18%. The median two-bedroom in Tacoma costs $1,602, while one-bedrooms go for $1,221.
Over the past year, Seattle proper is the only city in the metro area that has seen rents fall, with a decline of 3.9%. Median two-bedrooms there cost $1,985, while one-bedrooms go for $1,591.
Redmond has the most expensive rents of the largest cities in the Seattle area, with a two-bedroom median of $2,379; rents were up 3.5% over the past month and 3% over the past year.
Lynnwood has the least expensive rents in the Seattle area, with a two-bedroom median of $1,599; rents increased 2.7% over the past month and 6.9% over the past year.
As rents have increased sharply in Kent, other large cities nationwide have seen rents grow more modestly, or in some cases, even decline, according to apartmentlist.com. Compared to most large cities across the country, Kent is less affordable for renters.
Rents increased sharply in other cities across the state, with Washington as a whole logging rent growth of 4.6% over the past year. For example, rents have grown by 28.5% in Spokane and 15.4% in Vancouver.
Kent’s median two-bedroom rent of $1,782 is above the national average of $1,194. Nationwide, rents have grown by 8.4% over the past year compared to the 8.7% increase in Kent.
Renters will generally find more expensive prices in Kent than most large cities. For example, Phoenix has a median two-bedroom rent of $1,309.
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