Single-family rent prices across the U.S. edged up just 1.4% in August 2025 compared with a year earlier, marking the slowest annual growth in more than 15 years, according to Cotality’s latest Single-Family Rent Index (SFRI). This pace is less than half the 3% increase recorded in the same month a year ago.
“Annual single-family rent growth fell to its lowest level in more than 15 years this August, highlighting a notable shift in the rental market,” said Molly Boesel, senior principal economist at Cotality. “We’re seeing slower growth across price tiers and in many major metros. That said, not all areas are following the same pattern.”
Among major markets, Atlanta, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles bucked the trend with comparatively stronger growth. Los Angeles, now just above pre-wildfire rent levels from January, ranked second among the top 10 metros for rent growth, reflecting the ongoing impact of recovery efforts, tight housing supply, and local economic conditions on rental prices.
Across price tiers, high-end and low-end single-family rents rose only modestly. Luxury properties, which had posted more robust growth in previous months, increased 1.6% year over year in August, down from 3.3% in August 2024. Lower-end rental units saw a 1.1% increase, compared with a 2.8% gain a year earlier. Detached homes rose 1.5%, while attached units increased 1%.
Metro-level trends were uneven. Chicago led the top 10 markets with a 4.7% year-over-year increase, followed by Los Angeles at 2.8%, Philadelphia at 2.7%, Washington, D.C. at 2.6%, and Atlanta at 1.9%. Dallas recorded the weakest performance, with rents declining 0.6% in August and largely flat over the past year, reflecting an influx of new multifamily units that has strengthened renter bargaining power.
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