Report: Austin now No. 2 among cities with fastest-rising rent prices

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin came close to eclipsing all other major American cities for the distinction of having the fastest-rising rent prices year to year, according to one new report.

Online real estate company Redfin released figures Wednesday showing March rental prices in the Texas capital city went up 38% in a year's time, the second highest amount in the country. Portland, Oregon claimed the top spot in Redfin's latest report, with its rental prices increasing 40% year to year.

Austin slid back into the second position behind Portland after claiming first in the report that Redfin released last month comparing February's year-to-year rent prices. Previously, KXAN reported on the group's January analysis measuring the rise in rent prices, which showed Austin slightly trailing behind Portland again.

According to Redfin, the median rent price for Austin was $2,349 in March. The report did not detail what the average price was last month, as it did during its prior updates.

Nationally, Redfin reported the median monthly asking rent went up 17% year over year to a record high of $1,940 in March, which is the largest annual jump since at least February 2020. Additionally, the company said the national median monthly mortgage payment for homebuyers saw a 34% year-over-year increase to $1,910 — the biggest jump in Redfin's records.

Redfin largely blamed that increase in monthly mortgage payments on rates going from 3% to 5% during the past three months.

"Those who choose to rent may save money in expensive housing markets in the near term, but long term, they may have to deal with continued rent increases, year after year," Daryl Fairweather, Redfin's chief economist, said in a statement Wednesday. "Those who move and buy somewhere more affordable now will be paying considerably more than if they bought last year, but will be able to build equity in the long run and ensure relatively stable monthly housing costs going forward.”

The top 10 metro areas with the highest increases in March rent year to year included:

1. Portland, Oregon (+40%)
2. Austin, Texas (+38%)
3. New York, New York (+35%)
4. New Brunswick, New Jersey (+35%)
5. Newark, New Jersey (+35%)
6. Nassau County, New York (+35%)
7. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (+33%)
8. Miami, Florida (+33%)
9. West Palm Beach, Florida (+33%)
10. Orlando, Florida (+30%)

According to Redfin, only two of the country's largest metros reported a decline in rent prices from a year earlier: Milwaukee, Wisconsin (-10%) and Kansas City, Missouri (-1.1%).

It's recently been well reported about the struggles that many renters say they're facing due to steep increases all across the country. However, Peter Bergman, an associate professor of economics at the University of Texas at Austin, told KXAN earlier this year that he found rental prices going up more dramatically in cities that are typically considered to be more affordable, like Austin.