The median Arlington apartment rent in April was up 16.8 percent from a year before, the third highest growth rate among the nation’s 100 large urban areas, according to new data.
The median monthly rental for an apartment in the county last month was $1,999 for a one-bedroom unit and $2,420 for two bedrooms, according to data reported by Apartment List.
That’s an increase of 0.7 percent from a month before. Compared to the period immediately preceding the arrival of the pandemic in March 2020, Arlington rents are up 1.4 percent, representing first a steep decline and then a rapid comeback.
Among parts of the Washington region, Arlington’s median 2-bedroom rental rate of $2,190 was highest. Other rental medians included $2,310 in Rockville, $2,290 in Bethesda, $2,150 in both Germantown and Centreville, $1,900 in Silver Spring and $1,820 in the District of Columbia.
Arlington’s April data compare to a median-rental-cost increase of 0.8 percent for the month nationally, bringing the year-over-year national rebound to 16.3 percent.
“Rent growth is continuing to pick up steam again after a brief winter slowdown,” noted the Apartment List analysts.
But while the market is warming with the temperatures, it has not returned to red-hot territory. For the first four months of the year, the increase has been a modest 2.5 percent nationally.
(For the full national report, see the Website at https://www.apartmentlist.com/research/national-rent-data.)
Median rents increased over the past month in 93 of the nation’s 100 largest urban areas, up from 74 of 100 a month before, with Sun Belt markets continuing to see some of the nation’s fastest growth.
Since the pandemic began, the highest rate of rent growth has been recorded in Tampa (41%), Miami (38%) and Phoenix (also 38%). Over the past 12 months, the Florida trio of Miami, Orlando and Tampa have seen the highest growth rates.
Of all 100 urban areas in the Apartment List monthly review, only San Francisco (down 3%) and San Jose (down 1%) remain below their pre-pandemic apartment-cost levels. They are expected to rebound fully in coming months.
In April, the national apartment-vacancy index fell slightly, declining to 4.6 percent in its first reduction since last August, when it had stood at 3.8 percent.