Median U.S. rent drops

The median U.S. rent fell 0.4 percent in March, the first year-over-year decline in that category in three years, according to data released Tuesday.

The $1,937 median rent was also the lowest nationwide in 13 months, according to Redfin, the Seattle-based residential real estate brokerage.

To put those numbers in perspective, rents were up 17.5 percent in March 2022 compared with one year earlier.

The median rent was unchanged between February and March, and it remained $322 higher (nearly 20 percent) than it was when the pandemic started three years ago, Redfin reported.

The median rent in Riverside rose 7.2 percent between March 2022 and March of this year, the seventh-largest increase among major U.S. cities. No other California city made that list.

Rents are falling, but it feels more like they’re just returning to normal, which is healthy to some degree,” said Dan Close a Redfin spokesman, in a statement. “It’s similar to the cost of eggs. You can say egg prices are plummeting, but what’s really happening is they’re making their way back to the $3 norm instead of $5 or $6.

“Rents  ballooned during the pandemic, and are now returning to earth.”