U.S. apartment rents inched up in May

The Midwest has the fastest-growing apartment rents in the country.

Rents in the Midwest climbed 3.4 percent year-over-year in May, far surpassing the average national annual rent growth of 0.7 percent, according to data from real estate analytics firm RealPage.

The Northeast came in at a close second, posting rent growth of 3.2 percent year over year. The South was the only region that recorded a yearly drop in rents, of 0.9 percent.

The Northeast had the highest occupancy rate in May, at 97.1 percent, followed by the Midwest with 96.5 percent occupancy. Nationwide, the occupancy rate grew by .5 percent to 95.7 percent.

The city that stood out in terms of rent change was San Francisco. The city’s rent surged 6.2 percent year over year, the highest among the metro areas analyzed by RealPage. The report marked the first time in more than a year that a Midwestern city did not place first in the firm’s rent-growth rankings.

Chicago had the second-highest rent growth, of 5.5 percent. Cities with the highest annual rent growth are scattered across the country, from New York (4.1 percent) to Kansas City (3.8 percent). But the biggest losers were concentrated in the Sun Belt. 

Austin took the crown for the metro that experienced the steepest rent cut compared to the year before, according to RealPage. Rents in the Texas city plunged by 8 percent. And Southern cities — recently part of development and population booms — dominated those with the largest discounts: Phoenix (-4.9 percent), San Antonio (-3.7 percent) and Fort Worth (-2.7 percent).

Here is a closer look at the top metro areas with the biggest changes in annual rent.