Las Vegas rent prices just keep rising; only one city sees rents drop

The rent race

Renters in Las Vegas may want to reconsider their living situations. According to new data, the city has the highest year-over-year rent growth in the entire nation, with rent prices rising 5.3 percent since last February.

Rent prices get out of hand

According to the recent Single-Family Rent Index from CoreLogic, Las Vegas had the single-highest jump in rents over the last year, far outpacing the national average of 2.8 percent.

Orlando came in second for rent growth, with a jump of 4.8 percent, while Phoenix took third at 4.4 percent. Both cities saw job gains of over 3 percent in the last year – more than double the national rate. This likely spurred the rent hikes in these areas, according to CoreLogic.

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In total, 19 of the nation’s top 20 markets saw rents rise over the last year. Low rental inventory – particularly in relation to demand – is the likely culprit.

“Metro areas with limited new construction, low rental vacancies and strong local economies that attract new employees tend to have stronger rent growth,” CoreLogic reported.

The upside

Honolulu, where rent prices dipped 0.5 percent since last February, was the only metro to see rents decrease over the year. This is the third month the city has a posted a year-over-year drop.

Though Seattle and Chicago both experienced rent gains, the two metros were on the low end in terms of growth. Seattle rent prices rose just 0.4 percent over the year, while those in Chicago increased 0.9 percent.

Philadelphia, St. Louis and Austin, Texas, all posted gains in the low 1 percent range.

“Of the 20 metros analyzed, St. Louis experienced the lowest employment growth, which could be a factor in its low rent growth,” according to CoreLogic.

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