It's only been two weeks since we saw Zumper's July numbers but they're already back with their National Rent Report for August. For the seventh month in a row, Seattle checks in at 10th on their list of major U.S. cities in terms of most expensive median rents. One-bedroom median rent jumped 3.2 percent to $1,600 from the previous month. Two-bedroom median rent went up 7.8 percent from the previous month to $2,200.
This is the first time Zumper is including YOY numbers and interestingly Seattle's median numbers are actually down. One-bedroom rents are down 3 percent while two-bedroom rents are only up 0.5 percent. While there has been a lot of talk (and examples) of skyrocketing rents around town, last year's August numbers may have been boosted by new units and buildings at the time.
When Zumper expands their numbers to include all cities, Bellevue continues to hold its own as one of the most expensive places to rent in the U.S. They check in 22nd in the nation with a median 1-BR rent of $2,000, which is actually down from $2,240 in the previous month. Kirkland shows up next in the region with a median 1-BR of $1,660 while both Redmond and Seattle follow at $1,600.
This is the part where we mention that Zumper's data is drawn solely from the asking rents for the listings on its site, not all available rentals in Seattle and surrounding cities. Therefore, it isn't a measure of what all Puget Sounders are paying, but it does offer one look at prices that prospective renters in the market during July were seeing.
· Zumper National Rent Report: August 2015 [Zumper]
· Seattle 10th Most Expensive Large City to Rent in America [CS]