Average monthly rents saw yet additional increases in the new year, with a 15.2% jump over January of 2021, according to the real estate brokerage service Redfin.
The company is reporting that the national rent average now stands at $1,891 a month, the latest in an ongoing trend that has been underway for the last two years, despite the pandemic economy.
Redfin’s January numbers come on the heels of its December report, which pegged the average at $1,877, up 14.1% over December of 2020.
According to the Seattle-based company, rents have seen their greatest increases on both the East and West costs, with Portland recording a 39% gain over January of last year, followed by cities in New York, New Jersey, and Florida, all with gains of anywhere from 31% to 33%.
Only two cities in the West, according to Redfin’s figures, were listed in the top fifty for increased rents: Denver, with an average rent now of $2,667, a 24% gain over last year at this time; and Phoenix, with an average early 2022 rent of $2,158, up by 26.5% over January of last year.
Such increases, notes the Washington Examiner, are coming at a bad time as the “country grapples with inflated prices across most sectors of the economy.”
In a statement, Daryl Fairweather, chief economist with Redfin, remarked, “One of the only ways to avoid high housing costs is to move somewhere cheaper, but the list of places that are truly inexpensive is shrinking.”
Despite the generally rising rent trend line, some cities continue to remain below the $1,891 average. According to the site Rent Café, the average current rent in Albuquerque is $1,161; with El Paso at $917; and Tucson at $1,150.
By Garry Boulard
