12:51 PM EDT, 05/12/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Asking rents for apartments in the US registered the biggest annual decline in more than a year as supply outpaced demand, Redfin (RDFN) said Monday.

The median asking rent dropped 1% year over year to $1,625 in April, the largest fall since February 2024, according to the real estate brokerage.

"Asking rents are sluggish because there are more apartments for rent than people who want to rent them," Redfin Senior Economist Sheharyar Bokhari said. "Renter demand is strong, but growth in apartment supply is even stronger because multifamily construction surged in the wake of the pandemic moving frenzy."

Rents for two-bedroom apartments decreased 1.5% from a year earlier to $1,699 in April, also the biggest decline since February 2024. Single-unit apartments saw a 1.2% fall in asking rents, while for apartments with three bedrooms or more, rent retreated 1%, the data showed.

The largest decline among the 44 major core-based statistical areas that Redfin analyzes was in Austin, Texas, where the asking rent slumped 9.6% on a yearly basis, followed by Minneapolis and Portland, Oregon. Rents rose most in Cincinnati, which recorded an 8.7% increase, followed by Pittsburgh and Baltimore, Redfin said.

Sequentially, asking rents in the US rose 1.2% last month. April marked the 14th consecutive month in which rents "barely" fell or rose, with an annual change of 1% or less during each month, according to the brokerage.

The rental vacancy rate for buildings with at least five units was 8.2% in the first quarter, matching the prior three-month period for the highest level since early 2021. Less than half of newly built apartments are getting rented out within three months, one of the lowest shares since Redfin started collecting data, the report showed.

Asking rents could see a rebound in the coming months as permits for building apartments have started to "taper off," Bokhari said.

Price: 9.14, Change: +0.42, Percent Change: +4.82