Philly rent increases are finally chilling out, data show
A new analysis by the Washington Post reveals that rent increases are tapering down and growth rates are returning to pre-pandemic norms. In Philadelphia, rent rose by less than 2% in the last year.
Rent increases in the Philly area are cooling off.
A new analysis by the Washington Post reveals that across the country, rent increases — while still occurring — are happening in smaller increments and are closer to pre-pandemic norms.
The Post conducted its analysis by compiling average monthly rent data from the CoStar Group on newly listed rents across the country from June of each year from 2019 through 2023. It’s worth noting that using averages — and not median rent figures — skews rental data since the average can be influenced by extreme values while the median, the middle value, would provide a more balanced view. The data also did not include lease renewals or counties with fewer than 1,000 multi-units.
During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, from 2020 through 2022, monthly rents surged by about 15% across the country, according to the Post’s analysis. It marked the fastest nationwide rent hikes in nearly a century. But in the last year, increases have tapered off to about 1% to 3% nationwide, which the Post notes is closer to pre-pandemic rates.
In Philadelphia, rent rose by less than 2% in the last year — a small increase compared to the nearly 12% it had climbed since 2019. Still, fair housing advocates say more needs to be done.
By the numbers
In Philly, the average rent currently sits at $1,700, according to the Post.
Like the rest of the country, Philly’s average rent rose by 1.2% in the last year. This poses a stark contrast to the 11.9% increase the city saw in rent prices from 2019 through 2022.
Here are the numbers for other neighboring counties:
Bucks County: 4% increase in the last year; 19% increase from 2019 to 2022; average rent of $1,600
Montgomery County: 0.1% decrease in the last year; 21% increase from 2019 to 2022; average rent of $1,200
Chester County: 1.7% increase in the last year; 17.3% increase from 2019 to 2022; average rent of $1,900
Delaware County: 2.3% increase in the last year; 17.9% increase from 2019 to 2022; average rent of $1,400
In other parts of Pennsylvania, Clarion County saw rent fall the lowest this year, with a -4.7% change in the last year and average rent costing $1,000. Since 2019, the rural county, which is about 80 miles outside of Pittsburgh, has seen a 3% change in asking prices.
Of the 60 Pennsylvania counties the Post analyzed, 43 of them fell within a 0% to 3% rent increase within the last year, and all but one fell within 7%.
Lycoming County — Pennsylvania’s largest county by land area (largest by population is Philadelphia County) — was the anomaly, with a 19.6% change in the last year and a 5.6% change since 2019. Still, average rent prices sit at $1,100.