Apartment rents in Kent increased 0.6 percent in March compared to February, and are up 5.3 percent compared to last March.
Median rent prices in Kent prove to be less affordable than comparable cities nationwide – Kent’s median two-bedroom rent of $1,770 per month is above the national average of $1,170, according to a report by California-based Apartment List. The median rent for a one-bedroom unit in Kent is $1,420.
This is the fifth straight month that Kent has seen rent increases after a decline in October. Kent’s year-over-year rent growth leads the state average of 3.2 percent, as well as the national average of 2 percent.
Over the past year, rent increases have been occurring not just in the city of Kent, but across the entire metro area of the largest 10 cities that Apartment List has data for in the Seattle area.
Bellevue has the most expensive rents in the Seattle metro area, with a two-bedroom median of $2,290; the city has also seen rent growth of 1.7 percent over the past month, the fastest in the Seattle area.
Over the past month, Marysville is the only city in the extended metro area that has seen rents fall, with a decline of 0.1 percent. Median two-bedrooms there cost $1,700, while one-bedrooms go for $1,370.
Lakewood has the least expensive rents in the Seattle-Tacoma-Everett area, with a two-bedroom median of $1,400; rents rose 5.4 percent over the past year but remained flat month-over-month.
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