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75 August 2025 J O U R N A L themortgagepoint.com August 2025 » There are many empty apartments since apartment construction in the United States is close to a 50-year high. Less than half of newly constructed apartments finished by the end of 2024 were rented within three months, according to a recent Redfin analysis. The good news is that renters can now bargain with landlords because of this. "Renters have the upper hand—at least for now—because there are a near-record number of apartments coming on the market that landlords are scrambling to lease," said Sheharyar Bokhari, Senior Economist at Redfin. "In certain parts of the country, renters may be able to negotiate discounted rent, flexi- ble leases, or free parking. But these perks may be short-lived given that apartment construction is expected to slow and rent- al demand is expected to remain strong." Apartment Supply Outpaces Demand, Giving Renters More Bargaining Power With apartment building permits now back to pre-epidemic levels, the multifamily development boom that escalated during the pandemic has begun to slow down. Of the 44 major core-based statistical areas (CBSAs) that Redfin examined in June, asking rents decreased in 23 of them. The largest drops were in Minneapolis (-5.8% YoY), Austin, Texas (-5.7%), and Las Vegas (-4%). The median asking rent in Austin, Texas, has dropped to $1,379—the lowest level in more than four years. Even though there is a high demand for apartments in Austin, Redfin agents claim that many residents are opting to rent rather than buy since it is more cost-effective. This is partly due to the particularly robust rise in apartment construction during the pandemic. Between 2021 and 2023, Austin's builders obtained a significantly higher number of permits than builders in other large metro regions, which caused vacancy rates to skyrocket. Cincinnati saw the most increase in asking rentals, at 6.2% YoY. Next are Pittsburgh (3.7%) and St. Louis (4.3%), two more Rust Belt metro areas. These metro areas are seeing lower-than-normal apartment construction, which could be driving up rents. In June of this year, the median asking rent for two-bedroom apartments in the United States dropped 1.5% YoY to $1,713. Rents for apartments with 0–1 bedrooms and those with 3+ bedrooms were not much different from a year ago. For apart- ments with 0–1 bedrooms, the median asking rent was $1,499; for apartments with 3+ bedrooms, it was $2,014 a month. Due to a record number of apart- ments hitting the market, renting an apartment is becoming more difficult. The fourth quarter saw the completion of about 125,000 new flats, the second-high- est total ever, after the previous quarter's record-breaking total of 142,900. After being mostly constant over the previous two years, asking rents have late- ly decreased, indicating that the increased supply has produced a much stronger market for renters.