After sitting pretty in the No. 10 spot on Zumper’s median 1-BR rent chart for almost a year, Seattle jumped up to No. 9 in recent months. Just like that, however, we’ve fallen off and per the September National Rent Report we’re out of the top ten altogether.
The national median prices of both one and two bedrooms fell simultaneously for the first time this year. 1-BRs dropped 0.8 percent to $1,146 while 2-BRs decreased 1 percent to $1,358.
Seattle followed suit, precipitating the fall out of the top ten. The price of 1-BRs fell 4.4 percent to a median of $1,730 while 2-BRs dropped 3.4 percent to $2,300. Year-over-year, 1-BRs are still up 4.8 percent and 2-BRs are up six percent.
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 are seeing.