Rent Prices In Major PA Metros Are Going Up, New Report Shows

PENNSYLVANIA —The cost to lease a place to live in Pennsylvania’s major metropolitan areas are going up, as rental costs edged up in March for the eighth straight month nationwide according to a new report from Realtor.com.

The March report by the online brokerage compared rent prices in both the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh metro areas.

In the Philadelphia metro the median cost to rent a two-bedroom apartment in March was $1,756, a year-over-year increase of 1.7 percent.

And in the Pittsburgh metro, the median cost to rent a two-bedroom apartment in March was $1,461, a year-over-year increase of 8.3 percent.

The company said its March report tells two stories: Some of the nation’s most expensive markets saw year-over-year declines, but in more affordable markets, rental costs are growing at a fast pace due to people flocking from high-rent districts to more affordable areas.

Rents are increasing in the Midwest and Northeast, while renters in California and other cities in the West are seeing the first rent declines in two years.

Housing costs are a key driver of inflation, according to the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Inflation generally declined in March, but rents and other costs in the nation’s services sector jumped, keeping prices 5 percent higher than a year ago. That report showed a year-over-year increase in shelter costs of 8.2 percent in March.

In places where rents declined, such as California, the relief may come at the cost of layoffs in the tech sector and a weakening job market in the state, the report noted.

“Mirroring trends that we’ve seen in the for-sale market, affordability is shaping housing demand, with lower-cost areas continuing to see stronger rent growth, home price increases and competitive real estate markets,” Danielle Hale, the chief economist at Realtor.com, said in a news release.

“The good news for renters is that overall rent prices and price growth have both cooled from their highs in early 2022, offering some relief for cost-burdened consumers who are facing higher prices across the board,” Hale said.

The report said that nationally, rental markets saw single-digit growth for the eight consecutive month after 14 months of slowing, from a high of 16.4 percent growth in January 2022.

In the nation’s 50 largest metro markets, the median rent in March increased to $1,732, up by $15 from February, and down $32 from the 2022 peak.

Renters paid about $354 (25.7 percent) more a month than they did at the same time in 2019 before the pandemic.

Patch’s national desk contributed to this report.