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For most of 2020 to 2023, you could raise the rent, barely try to market a unit, and still fill it by the weekend. That is gone.
The rental market flipped, and most landlords are still pricing like it hasn’t. Costs are up. Rents are down. Vacancy is climbing, but so is retention. Metro leverage has quietly shifted to renters almost everywhere. Put together, that’s a market that punishes the old playbook — the automatic rent increases, the “it’ll bounce back” pricing — and rewards landlords who adjust.
I pulled nine numbers that tell that story, split between Realtor.com’s monthly rent reports* and Avail’s 2026 survey of 4,055 landlords. Each one comes with the thing you’re going to care about the most: what to do about it.
1. Rents Have Fallen for 35 Straight Months
The median asking rent across the 50 largest metros sat at $1,692 in June 2026, down 1.5% from a year ago and marking the 35th consecutive month of year-over-year declines. A year ago, the median was about $1,717, so rents were already sliding then too. Even after almost three years of declines, rent is still 16.4% above pre-pandemic levels, though about 4% below its 2022 peak.
- What to do: Let go of whatever automatic rent bump you’ve been penciling in year over year. The old playbook — a reliable annual increase, regardless of market conditions — was built for a market that no longer exists. Underwrite for flat rents, and run an Avail Rent Analysis report to evaluate local benchmarks, track demand in your zip code, and pull real-time rental comps so you know exactly what you can and should charge.
2. Vacancy Climbed to 7.6%
The average vacancy rate across the 50 largest metros rose to 7.6% in 2025, up from 7.2% the year before. More empty units mean more competition for the same renter, so your listing has to work harder than it did last year. But here’s the twist: while vacancy is climbing on paper, it’s not because tenants are leaving faster. It’s because once a unit goes empty, it’s staying empty longer — the renters who’d normally fill it are increasingly choosing to stay where they already are.
- What to do: Watch days on market like it’s your mortgage payment, because every extra empty day drains your return. Instead of manually posting to individual sites or chasing the market down $25 at a time, syndicate your unit across 19 top rental sites for free using Avail’s Free Rental Listings to capture maximum renter exposure on day one.
3. Renewals Are Beating Move-Outs 5 to 1
That’s the other half of the vacancy story: tenants are staying put. 36.1% of landlords report tenants are staying longer than in past years, and renewals are now outpacing move-outs by roughly 5 to 1. So the 7.6% figure isn’t a warning that your tenants are about to leave — it’s a warning that if they do, you’re competing in a market where fewer renters are actively looking. Retention stopped being a nice-to-have and became the whole margin.
- What to do: Engineer the renewal rather than hope for it. Fix things fast, communicate professionally, and make paying rent effortless. Setting up Automated Rent Collection lets tenants pay via ACH, debit or credit card, or even AutoPay with automatic reminders, giving you on-time payments while creating a seamless payment routine that keeps renters in place.
4. 44 of the 50 Biggest Metros Are Renter-Friendly or Balanced
Out of the 50 largest metros, 44 are now renter-friendly or balanced. Only six still tilt toward landlords. Here’s what that split actually means. A landlord-friendly metro is one where vacancy is tight and inventory is scarce — landlords set the price, and renters compete for units. A renter-friendly metro flips that: more listings than qualified renters, so tenants have options and negotiating power, and landlords have to work harder to win and keep them. Balanced metros sit in between — neither side has a clear edge, and pricing comes down to execution rather than market conditions doing the work for you.
For most of us, the leverage just moved to the other side of the table. Only six metros still give landlords the built-in advantage of a tight market. In the other 44, you’re not setting rent in a vacuum — you’re competing for renters who have real alternatives.
- What to do: Find out which side of that line your market is on before setting a price. In a renter-friendly metro, you compete on speed, condition, and professionalism. You don’t need a massive tech stack to pull this off; you just need simple systems that remove friction. Using a property management tool built for DIY investors makes it easier to run screening reports, e-sign leases, and communicate with tenants smoothly while keeping your operations tight and professional.
5. Some Markets Never Recovered From Peak Rents
Relief isn’t spread evenly. Fifteen markets sit at least 10% below their rent peaks, led by Austin, Texas, at roughly 18% down, with Birmingham, Alabama, and Memphis, Tennessee, close behind. If you own in a heavy-construction Sunbelt metro, you’re feeling this the most.
- What to do: In a market that’s dropped this far, retention beats rate every time. Losing a good tenant to chase $50 more is how you end up with a vacant unit in a sliding market. Keep cash flow steady by focusing on tenant experience—fixing issues quickly and keeping communication easy. Simple platforms like Avail help you manage maintenance requests and tenant messaging in one place, giving renters a prompt, professional experience that keeps them happy and locked in.
6. 74% of Landlords Saw Their Ownership Costs Go Up
This is the squeeze: 74.4% of landlords reported ownership costs rose this year, driven primarily by taxes and insurance, according to Avail’s 2026 survey. Costs are up, and rents are down. That gap doesn’t close itself — it comes straight out of your margin. Every dollar taxes and insurance eat into your cash flow is a dollar you need to recover somewhere else, and rent is usually the only lever landlords actually control. Yet plenty are hesitant to touch it, worried a rent bump costs them a good tenant. That hesitation is exactly what’s compressing margins across the board right now.
- What to do: If you can’t fix it with rent, fix it in operations. Shop your insurance, protest your tax rate, and cut management overhead. Ditch overpriced single-use property management tools and consolidate your business into an all-in-one platform to manage listings, tenant screening, leases, and accounting without eating into your cash flow margins.
7. Only 44% Who Raised Rent Did It Because of Those Costs
Here’s the interesting part: Of the landlords who did raise rent, only 44.3% pointed to rising costs as the main reason. Most raised rates to keep pace with local comps instead. Smart investors price to the market, not to their own expense sheets.
- What to do: Your mortgage doesn’t set your rent—the market does. Before picking a number, pull data-driven comps for your exact unit. Running an Avail Rent Analysis report gives you precision price trends, comparable listings in a mile radius, and historical neighborhood data so you’re pricing off real numbers rather than a hunch.
8. 18% of Landlords Now Refuse to Raise Rent on Purpose
Today, 18% of landlords run a strict no-increase policy, betting that a reliable tenant who stays is worth more than a small bump that risks a move-out. That’s not because they’re pushovers—the math changed.
- What to do: Run the math on turnover costs before sending out a price hike. Between make-ready prep, vacant days, and marketing fees, replacing a tenant can swallow $3,000 to $5,000 overnight. Keeping a good tenant at a flat rate usually yields far better net cash flow. Having a clean workflow—like using Avail to handle lease renewals automatically—takes the administrative headache out of keeping quality renters in place.
9. One-Third of Landlords Are Still Buying
Despite it all, 32.9% of landlords plan to buy more property in the next 24 months, versus just 6.6% planning to sell. The pros are buying while everyone else panics.
- What to do: Stop reading a renter’s market as a reason to quit—read it as a reason to get sharper. Softer prices and motivated sellers are an opportunity, but only if your operations are tight enough to underwrite conservatively. Scale your portfolio efficiently by keeping your systems standardized and professional with a platform made for independent landlords, like Avail.
Final Thoughts
The market flipped from “raise rent and relax” to “run it like a business or lose money.” That’s the whole shift in one sentence.
In a renter’s market, sloppiness gets punished first. Price to real comps, screen for tenants who pay and stay, and keep the good ones long enough that turnover stops eating your returns.
If you’d rather run the whole lifecycle from one centralized place, Avail handles every step for independent landlords: data-backed rent comps, free listings syndicated to 19 sites, TransUnion tenant screening, state-specific leases, and online rent collection. Signing up is free, so check out their professional systems that protect your bottom line in any market.
*Data released since February 2026 is not directly comparable with previous releases/blog posts because of methodology changes.
