Kent apartment rents increased 1.2% over the past month, but are down slightly by 0.1% in comparison to the same time last year.
Currently, median rents in Kent stand at $1,280 for a one-bedroom apartment and $1,638 for a two-bedroom, according to the March report by apartmentlist.com. Kent’s year-over-year rent growth leads the state average of down 7.5%, but trails the national average of 0.0% or zero growth.
Rent prices have been decreasing not just in Kent over the past year, but across the entire Seattle metro area. Of the largest 10 cities in the metro area for which apartmentlist.com have data, six of them have seen prices drop.
Over the past year, Seattle proper has seen the biggest rent drop, with a decline of 18.5%. Median two-bedrooms there cost $1,742, while one-bedrooms go for $1,397.
Tacoma has seen the fastest rent growth in the metro, with a year-over-year increase of 6.5%. The median two-bedroom there costs $1,465, while one-bedrooms go for $1,117.
Lakewood has the least expensive rents in the Seattle metro, with a two-bedroom median of $1,424; rents grew 0.2% over the past month and 6.2% over the past year.
Redmond has the most expensive rents of the largest cities in the Seattle metro, with a two-bedroom median of $2,129; rents grew 0.9% over the past month but fell 11.1% over the past year.
As rents have fallen slightly in Kent, a few large cities nationwide have seen prices increase, in some cases substantially. Compared to most large cities across the country, Kent is less affordable for renters.
Although rents across cities in Washington have been sharply on the rise, the state’s growth as a whole has held steady over the past year. For example, rents have grown by 8.1% in Spokane and 6.8% in Vancouver.
Kent’s median two-bedroom rent of $1,638 is above the national average of $1,114. Nationwide, rents have held steady over the past year.
Renters will generally find more expensive prices in Kent than most large cities. For example, Spokane has a median two-bedroom rent of $1,094, where Kent is nearly one-and-a-half times that price.
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