Rental prices are surging, up nearly 9% for two-bedrooms

A study by real-estate platform Zumper finds that the average rental price of a one-bedroom apartment rose 7% in July. The average two-bedroom was up 8.7%.

To put that in context, the average increase in February was just 1.1% for a one-bedroom and 0.9% for a two-bedroom. That uptick, at the time, was the biggest increase since the start of the pandemic.

While some inner-city apartments are seeing easing, rent prices are going up in the suburbs. In fact, aside from San Francisco, Zumper found, it’s hard to find an entire metro area where rent is down. And in cities such as Phoenix, Miami, Atlanta, Dallas, Orlando, San Diego, and Tampa Bay, prices are rising faster than ever.

Atlanta, in fact, saw some of the biggest jumps, with one northern suburb seeing an 18.6% year-over-year increase. Even Athens, Ga., home of the University of Georgia, is spiking, with rents increasing 19% in the past year.

The surge in rent prices comes just as pandemic-era eviction protections for renters are coming to an end. The Treasury Department says it delivered more than $1.5 billion in assistance last month, more than it has in all previous months combined. The Emergency Rental Assistance program is in the process of developing a national infrastructure for rental assistance and eviction prevention to speed up the disbursement of funds. The program will run through 2025.

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities estimates there are 11.4 million Americans currently behind on their rent—16% of the total adult renter population.