The monetary ache of shelling out sky-high hire is a actuality for a lot of, with median costs in some U.S. metro areas at almost $3,000 a month. But, in sure metros among the many nation’s 50 largest markets, renters can nonetheless discover relative affordability, in line with a Realtor.com Month-to-month Rental Report.

Oklahoma Metropolis is the one metro among the many 50 largest within the nation the place renters can discover a median-priced residence for lower than $1,000 a month. The realm provided the bottom month-to-month rental value in January, at $982, in line with the Month-to-month Rental Report.

There are 10 markets the place median month-to-month rents are decrease than $1,300, in line with the current report. Half are within the Midwest, 4 are within the South and one is within the Northeast. None are within the West. The least costly markets are:

1. Oklahoma Metropolis – $982

2. Louisville, Kentucky – $1,167

3. Birmingham, Alabama – $1,178

4. Rochester, New York – $1,235

5. Columbus, Ohio – $1,242

6. Indianapolis – $1,266

7. Memphis – $1,274

8. St. Louis, Missouri – $1,279

9. Cleveland – $1,290

10. Kansas Metropolis, Mississippi/Kentucky – $1,298

Renters seeking to reap the benefits of the very best costs ought to transfer shortly. Whereas the rents in these metros are the bottom among the many 50 largest, for a lot of of them, costs are growing at a sooner charge than in the remainder of the nation.

“With excessive rents throughout the nation, locations that supply relative affordability are usually in excessive demand, which suggests extra competitors and that these decrease costs may not final,” mentioned Realtor.com chief economist Danielle Hale. “Many of those metros have fewer accessible rental properties than earlier months, and fewer residences to select from means costs are prone to go up. Cities together with Indianapolis, Birmingham, Columbus, Kansas Metropolis, Cleveland, and Rochester are among the many extra reasonably priced metros that skilled the quickest year-over-year value will increase in January 2023, leaving few metros which might be sustaining their present stage of affordability.”

Many of those areas even have much less rental availability than in previous years, suggesting that reasonably priced metros are growing in recognition. For instance, within the fourth quarter of 2022, the typical rental emptiness charge throughout these least costly markets was 7.6% — a big drop from the 9.7% emptiness charge within the fourth quarter 2017. Nonetheless, seven of the most-affordable areas nonetheless had higher emptiness charges than the nation’s common, which was final tracked at 5.8% nationwide.

Nationwide, hire development for studio to two-bedroom properties continued to gradual. Median hire was down 2.9% year-over-year, the bottom development charge in 22 months. As compared, January 2022 hire was up 16.2% from the yr prior.

Final month was the twelfth month of cooling hire development and the sixth month in a row with a single-digit charge enhance. The median asking hire within the 50 largest metros declined to $1,726, down by $7 from final month and $80 lower than the August 2022 peak of $1,806. But, rental costs are nonetheless up 20.6% ($295 increased) from pre-pandemic January 2020.