The median asking monthly rent across the 50 largest metros fell to $1,692 in June, down 1.5%, or $25, from a year ago. The drop marked the 35th straight month of year-over-year declines, as a multiyear multifamily construction boom continues to outpace demand nationally, according to the Realtor.com^® June 2026 Rent Report. Which metros see the most relief next may hinge on where permitting and construction are happening now, and that activity is diverging sharply by market.

"This didn't happen by accident. Builders spent years playing catch-up after the pandemic rent spike, and that supply is why rents have fallen for nearly three years straight," said Jiayi Xu, Economist at Realtor.com^®. "Now it comes down to geography: cities like Columbus, Ohio and Orlando are ramping up construction and are set up for more relief, while places like New York and Boston pulled back, which may raise concerns about the affordability path ahead."

The median asking monthly rent is now $72 (-4.1%) below its 2022 peak, though still $238 (+16.4%) above pre-pandemic levels. A typical seasonal bump is likely this summer, but with new construction still running through the pipeline in many markets, Realtor.com^® expects year-over-year declines, and rent relief, to continue through 2026.

Where that relief shows up next depends on what gets built. Nationally, 302,730 multifamily units were permitted in 2025, up 1.9% from 2024 but still 13.1% below 2019 and 34.4% below the 2022 peak.

New York and Boston, both grappling with high-profile rent control fights this year, are building at their slowest pace since 2019. New York permitted just 1.6 new multifamily units per 1,000 residents in 2025, down from 2.3 in 2019, and Boston permitted 1.1, down from 2.0 in 2019.

New York City's Rent Guidelines Board approved a rent freeze this year, and Massachusetts' supreme judicial court struck down a statewide rent control initiative, keeping it off the November ballot.

"It's interesting to see how differently policymakers approach rent regulation. Rent control and rent freezes can protect the renters already in a unit, but they don't do anything to bring the market rate down for everyone else," Xu said. "Sustainably lower rent comes from more supply, and right now that effort looks very different from city to city."

On the other end of the spectrum, Columbus is building at its fastest pace since 2019, boosted in part by its "Zone In" zoning reform, expected to enable up to 88,000 new homes over the next decade. Florida is also building back: after pulling back in 2024, permitting rebounded in 2025 to 4.5 units per 1,000 residents in Orlando and 2.6 in Miami, both near their 2021 peaks.

San Jose posted a similar rebound in permitting, but its rent tells a different story: the market's median asking rent hit $3,423 in June, the highest in Realtor.com^®'s data history dating back to March 2019, up 3.3% year over year as demand driven by income from the AI boom in the Bay Area continues to outpace new supply.

Las Vegas also hit its highest rate since 2019, though that looks more like a rebound from a 2024 dip than a new high. Cleveland, Oklahoma City, Providence, R.I., and Birmingham, Ala., are a different story: each has historically built very little, but all four are now climbing from an unusually low base, a sign that even long-stagnant markets could start giving renters more options.

Taken together, the data points to a market still finding its footing: national rent relief is real and likely to continue through 2026, but it will not be felt evenly. Renters in metros with strong permitting pipelines, like Columbus and much of Florida, are best positioned to see that relief continue. Renters in slower-building metros, including New York, may find that regulation offers protection but not the broader relief that comes from more supply.