Apartment rents in Kent declined 0.9% in October from the previous month, but are up 5.9% compared to the same time in 2021.
Median rents in Kent stand at $1,458 for a one-bedroom apartment and $1,879 for a two-bedroom, according to the latest monthly report by apartmentlist.com. Kent’s year-over-year rent growth leads the state average of 3.6%, as well as the national average of 5.7%.
Throughout the past year, rent increases have been occurring not just in Kent, but across the entire Seattle-Tacoma metro area.
Redmond has the most expensive rents in the Seattle metro area, with a two-bedroom median of $2,359; however, the city has also seen rents fall by 3.4% over the past month, the biggest drop in the area.
Renton has seen the fastest rent growth in the metro area, with a year-over-year increase of 10.0%. The median two-bedroom there costs $2,177, while one-bedrooms go for $1,719.
Lakewood has the least expensive rents in the Seattle-Tacoma metro area, with a two-bedroom median of $1,425; rents were down 1.0% over the past month but remained flat year-over-year.
As rents have increased significantly in Kent, a few large cities nationwide have seen rents grow more modestly, according to apartmentlist.com. Compared to most large cities across the country, Kent is less affordable for renters.
Washington as a whole has logged 3.6% year-over-year growth, while rent trends across other cities throughout the state have varied. For example, rents have grown by 7.2% in Vancouver whereas rents have fallen 0.1% in Spokane.
Kent’s median two-bedroom rent of $1,879 is above the national average of $1,348. Nationwide, rents have grown by 5.7% over the past year compared to the 5.9% rise in Kent.
While Kent’s rents rose significantly over the past year, many cities nationwide also saw increases, including New York City (plus 8.6%), Austin (plus 5.3%) and Boston (plus 5.1%).
Renters will generally find more expensive prices in Kent than most large cities. For example, Spokane has a median two-bedroom rent of $1,316, where Kent is nearly one-and-a-half times that price.
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