Apartment Rent Trends Show Regional Divergence in 2026

The month-over-month picture illustrates less dramatic change, with RealPage showing that rents fell 0.7% in October, the first monthly cut of 2026. The company said the annual gain came less from strong pricing than from weak months dropping out of the calculation, making for stronger year-over-year comparables. Other trackers show the same upward drift, with different monthly readings (1). [1]

Supply and demand are edging toward balance, with RealPage reporting that renters absorbed nearly 304,800 conventional apartments in the year ending in Q3 2026. Developers completed nearly 318,000 units over the same period, almost half the late-2024 peak. Occupancy eased to 95%, down 20 basis points from September (1). [1]

Northern California took the top three spots for rent power among the 50 largest markets, RealPage said. San Francisco rose 14.7%, San Jose 9.5%, and Oakland 8.5%. All three are running near 97% occupancy. Midwest metros fill much of the rest of the top 10. Milwaukee led at 4.2%, followed by Chicago at 3.3%, and Kansas City and Cleveland at 3.1% each (1). [1]

America’s apartment landscape has become a tale of two opposing rent trends, with rents climbing in the Bay Area and the Midwest while much of the Sun Belt continues to see declines. RealPage reported that national same-store asking rents edged up 1.7% from a year earlier in October, the biggest annual gain since May 2023. This increase is largely driven by cities like San Francisco, where rents jumped 14.7%, prompting local officials to push for more housing construction. In contrast, cities like San Antonio saw rents drop 2.6% (HousingWire). [1]

The month-over-month picture illustrates less dramatic change, with RealPage showing that rents fell 0.7% in October, the first monthly cut of 2026. However, the annual gain came less from strong pricing than from weak months dropping out of the calculation, making for stronger year-over-year comparables. Other trackers show similar upward drift, with Yardi Matrix reporting rents up 0.1% in October and Apartments.com showing annual growth of 1.6% (HousingWire). [1]

Northern California took the top three spots for rent power among the 50 largest markets, RealPage said. San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland saw rent increases of 14.7%, 9.5%, and 8.5%, respectively. Meanwhile, Midwest metros like Milwaukee, Chicago, and Kansas City also saw significant rent gains. However, most Sun Belt and Florida markets continued to experience rent declines, with San Antonio recording the deepest drop at 2.6% (HousingWire). [1]

Sources

HousingWire

Prepared with AI assistance from the cited sources.