December 26, 2025
The first half of 2025 began on a hopeful note for multifamily property owners, with apartment rents continuing their pattern of year-over-year gains, averaging just above 1%. Despite a cooling labor market and record apartment construction, the usual patterns linking employment gains to rising rents no longer hold as tightly, according to Chris Bruen, senior director of research and chief economist at the National Multifamily Housing Council. Prices dropped 1.4% year over year, indicating deterioration in values after some improvement over the summer. The Realtor.com November 2025 Rental Report shows that asking rents in the nation’s capital region are higher than they were a year ago, while the broader national rental situation is seeing a cooldown.