Rents have dropped year over year in Las Vegas through the end of January, according to a new study from Redfin.
The median asking rent for all bedroom types in the valley sits at $1,470, a 1.3 percent drop from January 2024. Rents did rise in January of this year (1.7 percent) from December.
Las Vegas Valley rents are below the national median price ($1,599), according to Redfin and just below Phoenix ($1,475) and ahead of Dallas ($1,464). The city with the biggest rental drop year-over-year from January was Austin, Texas (16 percent), far outpacing any other city as second place went to Tampa, Florida (8.2 percent drop).
Daryl Fairweather, Redfin’s chief economist, said the Las Vegas market is still going through a shift when it comes to multifamily listings.
“New construction that started during the pandemic is still coming online. But demand for rentals is not as high as it was during the pandemic. That has relieved pressure on rents,” she said.
This mirrors a nationwide trend where multifamily units that were originally financed during the pandemic are now being brought to market in most major American cities. Redfin Senior Economist Sheharyar Bokhari said rental supply and demand are currently in lockstep.
“Which is keeping rent growth at bay, but that may not last long,” he said. “Apartment construction could be further hampered by new tariffs on building materials. At the same time, demand for apartments continues to grow as high mortgage rates and housing prices push homeownership out of reach for many Americans. Rents will tick up if demand starts to outpace supply in a meaningful way.”
Rental relief
Redfin’s report explained that rental relief for many people across the country is finally here after the pandemic shot inflation up and subsequent rental rates up to record highs, however the future remains uncertain for the overall market.
“Nationwide, the median asking rent was little changed from a year earlier, down 0.1 percent to $1,599,” read the report. “But rents may inch up if demand outstrips supply in a big way, which is feasible because apartment construction is slowing and high homebuying costs are fueling renter demand.”
The pandemic also brought about a multifamily financing boom leading to a wave of new apartments coming onto the market last year and into this year, however many real estate analysts have noted the pipeline for new projects is starting to dry up given building costs and interest rates remain high alongside a slowdown in construction starts due to a number of factors including supply issues for materials and a labor squeeze.
“Rents are stabilizing because the number of available apartments is in sync with the number of people who want to rent those apartments,” said the report. “Asking rents skyrocketed during the pandemic moving frenzy because there weren’t enough apartments to go around, then dipped in 2023 and early 2024 because builders ramped up construction to meet newfound demand. Now, the number of new apartments hitting the market is tapering off, and demand, while strong, isn’t going gangbusters like it was during the pandemic.
Tariffs could further inflame the rental market if the Trump administration follows through on hitting nations like Canada, Mexico and China with further penalties as the U.S. gets a lot of its building materials from these three countries.
A new Zillow report also found that homes are more expensive to rent than apartments in the Las Vegas Valley.
According to Zillow’s ranking, it is 42 percent more expensive to rent a house than a multifamily unit in the valley. The average rent for a house in Las Vegas is $2,172, while the average rent for an apartment is $1,525, according to Zillow.
Las Vegas’ rental market skews more toward single-family homes as a portion of the overall housing stock than most other major metros in the country according to Zillow.
Contact Patrick Blennerhassett at pblennerhassett@reviewjournal.com.
