What are rents like where you live?

While the last few months have been a roller coaster for new mortgages, they also have seen fluctuating rents in our region. October saw rental prices in King County fall for the second consecutive month, but year-over-year, prices have increased. When compared with the pre-pandemic numbers, Seattle rents are still up 14%. This is due in part to the higher interest rates, which are keeping many would-be homebuyers in the rental market for the time being.

According to recently released data from ApartmentList, Seattle rental prices experienced the third-highest month-over-month decline in the country in October, at -2.6%. The report shows that the median price of a two-bedroom apartment is finally under $2,000 again, though it also showed .7% price growth over October 2021. Based on ApartmentList’s aggregated data, the median rent for a Seattle two-bedroom is $1,990, and one-bedrooms are renting for $1,650.

Bellevue also saw a large decline in rental prices last month, edging out Seattle with a -2.7% change. That being said, the median price of a one-bedroom apartment in Bellevue is still more than a two-bedroom in Seattle, at $2,070. Two-bedrooms are going for $2,310. Overall, rental prices in Bellevue increased by 4.4% from October 2021.

Not every neighborhood or market saw rental price declines last month, however. In Mountlake Terrace, October prices increased by 0.4% over September prices and by 11% year-over-year. With the modest monthly increase, the median rent for a one-bedroom apartment was $1,810 and two-bedrooms were going for $2,110.

Renton had a similar pattern, with the Seattle suburb seeing a 10% increase in prices year-over-year. There, the median rent for a one-bedroom was $1,720. Two-bedrooms rented for $2,180.

Redmond and Issaquah both had year-over-year increases of just over 7%. However, Redmond’s -3.4% month-over-month price drop was the sharpest decline in the greater Seattle area, putting prices on par with Kirkland, with one-bedrooms renting for $2,090 and two-bedrooms at $2,360. Despite a -2.6% price decrease last month, Issaquah remains the most expensive place to rent based on ApartmentList’s data, with a median price of $2,460 for a two-bedroom apartment. 

With quite a few potential homebuyers waiting it out in the rental market until mortgage rates drop, it remains to be seen how rents will be impacted in the near term by the mortgage rate roller coaster. Despite some monthly dips in pricing, demand for housing is still high throughout the Puget Sound region, and it may yet be a while before we see any significant year-over-year decreases in rental prices.

Some content above was extracted from an article posted on Seattle Met.

Zeen is a next generation WordPress theme. It’s powerful, beautifully designed and comes with everything you need to engage your visitors and increase conversions.