Welcome to the September 2018 Washington, DC Rent Report. DC rents increased over the past month. In this report, we'll evaluate trends in the DC rental market, including comparisons to cities throughout the metro, state, and nation.
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Welcome to the September 2018 Washington, DC Rent Report. DC rents increased over the past month. In this report, we'll evaluate trends in the DC rental market, including comparisons to cities throughout the metro, state, and nation.
DC rents have increased 0.4% over the past month, but have remained steady at 0.3% in comparison to the same time last year. Currently, median rents in DC stand at $1,350 for a one-bedroom apartment and $1,560 for a two-bedroom. This is the seventh straight month that the city has seen rent increases after a decline in January. DC's year-over-year rent growth lags the national average of 1.0%.
While rents have remained steady in the city of DC throughout the past year, cities across the metro have seen a different trend. Rents have risen in all of of the largest 10 cities in the DC metro for which we have data. Here's a look at how rents compare across some of the largest cities in the metro.
Rent growth in DC has been relatively stable over the past year - some other large cities have seen more substantial increases; in contrast, rents in a few cities have actually declined. Compared to most similar cities across the country, DC is less affordable for renters.
| City | Median 1BR price | Median 2BR price | M/M price change | Y/Y price change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Washington, DC | $1,350 | $1,560 | 0.4% | 0.3% |
| Arlington | $1,810 | $2,100 | 0.4% | 1.7% |
| Alexandria | $1,590 | $1,830 | -0.1% | 0.7% |
| Germantown | $1,680 | $1,940 | -0.4% | 0.9% |
| Silver Spring | $1,530 | $1,760 | 0.4% | 1.5% |
| Centreville | $1,640 | $1,900 | 0.8% | 0.9% |
| Waldorf | $1,720 | $1,990 | 0.1% | 2.7% |
| Frederick | $1,340 | $1,550 | -0.2% | 3.8% |
| Rockville | $1,740 | $2,010 | 0.6% | 0.3% |
| Bethesda | $2,140 | $2,470 | 0.1% | 3.0% |
| Gaithersburg | $1,530 | $1,760 | -0.1% | 1.3% |
| Reston | $1,650 | $1,900 | -0.5% | -2.5% |
| Bowie | $2,100 | $2,430 | 0.2% | -1.1% |
| Ashburn | $1,980 | $2,290 | -0.2% | 4.8% |
| Leesburg | $1,710 | $1,980 | -0.6% | 0.8% |
| Manassas | $1,520 | $1,750 | 0.8% | 2.7% |
| Oakton | $1,910 | $2,210 | 0.2% | 1.6% |
| Montgomery Village | $1,570 | $1,810 | -0.9% | 0.3% |
| College Park | $1,570 | $1,810 | 0.2% | 1.2% |
| Suitland | $1,330 | $1,530 | -0.1% | 4.7% |
| Laurel | $1,340 | $1,590 | 0.1% | -0.4% |
| Fredericksburg | $1,440 | $1,660 | 0.5% | 1.6% |
| Herndon | $1,900 | $2,190 | 0.5% | -0.1% |
| Greenbelt | $1,390 | $1,600 | 0.4% | -3.0% |
| Fairfax | $1,860 | $2,150 | -1.4% | 2.0% |
| Hyattsville | $1,310 | $1,510 | -0.2% | 2.9% |
| Falls Church | $1,440 | $1,660 | -0.5% | -1.5% |
| Gainesville | $2,110 | $2,440 | 0.5% | -1.2% |
| Temple Hills | $1,270 | $1,460 | -0.8% | 5.8% |
Data from private listing sites, including our own, tends to skew toward luxury apartments, which introduces sample bias when estimates are calculated directly from these listings. To address these limitations, we’ve recently made major updates to our methodology, which we believe have greatly improved the accuracy and reliability of our estimates.
Read more about our new methodology below, or see a more detailed post here.
Apartment List is committed to making our rent estimates the best and most accurate available. To do this, we start with reliable median rent statistics from the Census Bureau, then extrapolate them forward to the current month using a growth rate calculated from our listing data. In doing so, we use a same-unit analysis similar to Case-Shiller’s approach, comparing only units that are available across both time periods to provide an accurate picture of rent growth in cities across the country.
Our approach corrects for the sample bias inherent in other private sources, producing results that are much closer to statistics published by the Census Bureau and HUD. Our methodology also allows us to construct a picture of rent growth over an extended period of time, with estimates that are updated each month.
Read more about our methodology here.
Apartment List publishes monthly reports on rental trends for hundreds of cities across the U.S. We intend these reports to be a source of reliable information that help renters and policymakers make sound decisions, and we invest significant time and effort in gathering and analyzing rent data. Our work is covered regularly by journalists across the country.
We are continuously working to improve our methodology and data, with the goal of providing renters with the information that they need to make the best decisions.
