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Annual Rents Drop for 34th Consecutive Month, Realtor.com Says

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Annual Rents Drop for 34th Consecutive Month, Realtor.com Says

Asking rents in the US fell annually for the 34th successive month in May, a trend that is likely to continue because of a surge in multifamily construction, News Corp's (NWS, NWSA) Realtor.com said Tuesday.

The median asking rent across the 50 largest US metropolitan areas for up to two-bedroom properties dropped 1.5% year over year to $1,686 last month, according to a report by the online real estate portal.

While the median rent is 17% above May 2019, it has fallen 4.4% from its August 2022 peak.

"This persistent softness is increasingly translating into real savings for renters navigating a market that once felt out of reach," Realtor.com Chief Economist Danielle Hale and Economist Jiayi Xu said.

The median asking rent will likely tick up month-over-month into the summer, according to the report. "However, given the surge in multifamily construction over the past few years, we anticipate continued year-over-year declines," Hale and Xu wrote.

Las Vegas topped the list of rental markets loved by local residents in the first quarter.

Other markets that were on the list included Austin, San Antonio and Houston, all in Texas, as well as San Diego, California.

"Beyond the draw of warm weather, softening rents and strong local job anchors work together to create a powerful gravitational pull -- giving residents in these markets little reason to look anywhere else," Hale and Xu said.

US housing starts plummeted 15% sequentially in May to the lowest level since 2020 amid a 42% decline in multi-family projects, the Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development said Tuesday.

Price: $29.50, Change: $+0.25, Percent Change: +0.85%

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