While much of the country is getting a tiny break on rent, San Francisco tenants are heading in the opposite direction. Apartments.com's November data show the city logged 5.6% annual rent growth even as the national average slipped to $1,706 and the monthly change turned negative for the fifth straight month. The split highlights a familiar story in coastal gateway metros, where limited supply is still propping up prices while many high-construction markets cool off.
National snapshot
Nationwide, U.S. apartment rents fell 0.18% month over month in November, leaving the average at $1,706 and annual growth at just 0.7%, according to a press release from Business Wire. The release, summarizing an Apartments.com report from CoStar Group, notes that November marked the fifth straight month of flat or negative rent movement and the steepest November decline in more than 15 years. Only seven metro areas managed monthly gains, a sign that the modest improvement is confined to a small group of markets.
Bay Area vs. the Sun Belt
In the Bay Area, the rebound has been far more dramatic. The median asking rent for a one bedroom in San Francisco hit roughly $3,090 in November, and rising prices are spilling down the Peninsula and into parts of the East Bay, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Hoodline recently dug into the same trend in a piece on the city reclaiming the title of nation's priciest city for renters, noting that renewed AI hiring and stronger office attendance are luring more renters back into an already tight market.
Supply still matters
Industry analysts largely point to supply as the culprit. CoStar Group has cut its near term multifamily forecast and flagged a persistent inventory overhang that is likely to keep rent momentum muted in many parts of the country, according to CoStar Group. The Apartments.com release echoes that view, noting that metros with the heaviest new construction are seeing the weakest rent performance. That pattern lines up with the growing gap between coastal outperformers and Sun Belt strugglers.
Where renters are feeling it
On a metro level, Austin, Denver and Phoenix remain among the softest year over year performers. Austin alone is down about 4.7% annually, and Las Vegas, San Antonio and Austin logged some of the steepest monthly drops, according to Apartments.com data reported via Business Wire. For renters, that divide means supply heavy Sun Belt markets may still come with concessions or more negotiable asking prices, while those chasing housing in constrained coastal cities should expect stiffer competition and rising rents.
With new deliveries projected to slow in 2026, analysts see a potential path to gradual rebalancing, though the timing will depend heavily on the specific market and property type. For now, November's numbers make one thing painfully clear: the national trend may be cooling, but your ZIP code still has the final say on what you pay.
