The Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in a shift in U.S. rental patterns as some residents in expensive areas pack up and move to either the suburbs or smaller cities. The increasingly widespread adoption of remote working has made that possible in many cases and it has resulted in rent prices falling in some of the America's most notorious rental hotspots such as the Bay Area and Manhattan.
ApartmentGuide's latest Rent Report found that San Francisco experienced the largest decrease in its average rental price for a one-bedroom apartment over the past year. Remote working is a realistic option for many people in America's leading tech hub and many have been keen to relocate in order to escape its exorbitant rents. ApartmentGuide's analysis found that the average rental price for a one-bedroom apartment declined 45 percent between March 2020 and March 2021 while the average rent for a two-bedroom apartment also fell 24 percent.
Chesapeake in Virginia, located in proximity to prominent naval installations, had the second largest year-over-year decline in rent at 29.4 percent while Long Beach (-27.0 percent), Seattle (-18.9 percent) and Los Angeles (-16.0 percent) also posted large declines. Those trends are not evident everywhere, however, and some U.S. cities are reporting a spike. Kansas City experienced the largest rise in rent for a one-bedroom apartment over the past year at 33.5 percent. Gilbert in Arizona came second with a 26 percent increase while Las Vegas also posted growth of 25.3 percent.
