Median asking rent dropped in August as nearly half of all rental listings now offer incentives
US rents have now declined year over year for 37 consecutive months, with the national median asking rent falling to $1,699 in August. That's the latest signal that renters hold more negotiating power than they have since the pandemic-era peak.
The Realtor.com Rental Report, which tracks studio, one- and two-bedroom properties across the 50 largest US metropolitan areas, recorded a 0.9% year-over-year decline in the national median asking rent.
Rents now sit $65, or 3.7%, below their summer 2022 peak, though they remain $227, or 15.4%, above August 2019 levels.
Concessions surge as vacancies pressure landlords
The most significant development in the August data is the continued rise of rental concessions.
In the 50 largest metros, 43.5% of studio, one- and two-bedroom rental listings offered some form of concession — such as free rent, waived application fees, or rent credits — up from 40.4% a year earlier, according to Realtor.com.
That figure marks the highest concession rate on record in the report's history.
The most concession-heavy markets were Denver, Colorado (71.9%), Austin, Texas (70.7%), Las Vegas, Nevada (69.6%), Nashville, Tennessee (69.0%), and San Antonio, Texas (67.9%).
Concession rates rose year over year in 39 of the 50 metros tracked.
By contrast, San Jose, California, and San Francisco — where rents rose 4.5% to 4.7%, respectively — recorded the steepest declines in incentive activity, consistent with demand from the AI-sector employment base identified in Realtor.com research.
A companion survey of independent landlords by Avail, part of the Realtor.com network, found high vacancy and weak renter demand are the most reliable triggers for concession activity.
Among landlords facing those pressures, 33.3% actively offered incentives, 25.9% said they considered them, and 24.1% chose to lower base rent outright rather than offer add-ons, according to the Avail survey.
Among those who did offer concessions, 37.9% opted for reduced or waived fees, 30.7% upgraded amenities, and 25.0% offered periods of free rent.
What the data means for the purchase market this fall
Jiayi Xu, senior economist at Realtor.com in Austin, Texas, said softening conditions give renters more room to maneuver entering the slower season.
"Renters are entering the fall with more choices and more negotiating power than they had at the height of the rental market," Xu said.
"Rents are still above pre-pandemic levels, but the combination of continued year-over-year declines, new supply and a growing share of listings with concessions is creating more opportunities for renters to find better deals. We expect the typical seasonal slowdown in monthly rents this fall, with year-over-year declines likely to continue as rental supply works through the market."
All three property categories tracked declined year over year in August.
Two-bedroom rents remain the furthest above pre-pandemic norms at 17.7% above August 2019, while one-bedroom rents are 14.4% higher and studios 13.1% higher than seven years ago.
The supply pipeline continues to support the downward trend. Multifamily starts and units under construction remained above pre-pandemic norms as of Realtor.com's April 2026 Rental Report, and the company's 2026 Housing Market Forecast Midyear Update projects a 1.2% full-year rent decline — contingent on supply continuing to outpace demand through the fourth quarter.
Brokers with purchase-focused books may find the data cuts both ways. While softening rents could extend clients' timelines before transitioning to homeownership, first-time homebuyers are still finding meaningful deals in more affordable US markets and US housing affordability is poised to continue improving through 2026, according to First American analysis, as income growth continues to outpace home price appreciation in an increasing number of markets.
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