Single-Family Rents Are Growing—But So Are Vacancies
Renters today are staying at their homes for longer periods of time before entering into homeownership, making them more likely to opt for spacious single-family homes. So much so that single-family rentals now house 41% of all renters nationwide. With this upward trend in mind, online rental market platform Rentometer analyzed nationwide single-family rental data to figure out how this growth in popularity has changed the rental landscape.
Single-family rents rose in the first half of 2025
From January through June 2025, the median single-family rent rose to $2,135, an increase of $36 or 1.7% compared with the same period last year. Rents in the Midwest increased the most, followed by the Northeast. In these markets, rents increased by a respective 6.1% and 4.6% in the first half of 2025 compared with the same period last year.
Of all large cities analyzed in the report, Boston saw the highest annual rent growth. Three-bedroom single-family rental homes in Boston average $4,500, which is up 12.5% year-over-year. With respective year-over-year rent increases of 9.4% and 9%, Staten Island, N.Y., and Long Beach, Calif., followed closely behind.
Although single-family rentals are becoming more popular, vacancies are also growing
As of Q1 2025, vacancy rates for single-family rentals rose to 6.3%, up one percentage point from the same period in 2024. This marks the highest vacancy level since Q1 2016. Comparatively, the apartment sector saw vacancies rise to 8.2% in Q1 2025.
While rents have risen in the first part of the year, this increase in vacancies could point to more bargaining power and more options for renter households in the near future.
Single-family rents have been picking up for a while
- Despite a Cooling Market, Single-Family Continues to Outpace Multifamily in Rent Growth: In 2024, single-family rents continued to increase despite a slowdown in multifamily rental rates.
- Single-Family Rents Grow Further Out of Reach: Renters now need to earn approximately $80,000 annually to afford the median priced rental.