Kent apartment rents increased 2.2% in April compared to March, and are up moderately by 2.4% in comparison to the same time last year.
Currently, median rents in Kent stand at $1,316 for a one-bedroom apartment and $1,684 for a two-bedroom, according to apartmentlist.com. This is the second 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, which dropped 4.2%, as well as the national average gain of 2.3%.
While rents prices have increased in Kent over the past year, the rest of the Seattle-Tacoma metro area is seeing the opposite trend. Of the largest 10 cities that apartmentlist.com compiles data for in the metro area, six of them have seen prices fall.
Over the past year, Seattle proper has seen the biggest rent drop, with a decline of 14.6%. Median two-bedrooms there cost $1,822, while one-bedrooms go for $1,461.
Tacoma has seen the fastest rent growth in the metro area, with a year-over-year increase of 11.4%. The median two-bedroom there costs $1,526, while one-bedrooms go for $1,163.
Redmond has the most expensive rents of the largest cities in the Seattle metro area, with a two-bedroom median of $2,205; rents grew 2.9% over the past month but fell 8.3% over the past year.
Lynnwood has the least expensive rents in the Seattle metro, with a two-bedroom median of $1,510; rents grew 1.7% over the past month but decreased 0.2% over the past year.
Rents increased sharply in other cities across the state. Rents have grown by 12.6% in Spokane and 9.6% in Vancouver.
As rents have increased moderately in Kent, other large cities nationwide have seen rents grow more modestly, or in some cases, even decline. Compared to most large cities across the country, Kent is less affordable for renters.
Kent’s median two-bedroom rent of $1,684 is above the national average of $1,137. Nationwide, rents have grown by 2.3% over the past year compared to the 2.4% rise in Kent.
While Kent’s rents rose moderately over the past year, some cities nationwide saw increases as well, including Phoenix (plus 8.6%) and Austin (plus 1.5%).
Renters will generally find more expensive prices in Kent than most large cities. For example, Spokane has a median two-bedroom rent of $1,149, where Kent is nearly one-and-a-half times that price.
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