Philly Still Among Nation’s Pricier Rental Markets, Survey Says

The latest Zumper national rent report has the city still in 15th place among the nation's most expensive rental markets. Rents here either remained steady or fell relative to last month, but remain higher than year-ago figures.

Most of the new projects and upgrades in the Philadelphia market, such as Presidential City, seen here, are aimed at its upper end, which means that the new inventory isn't having as much of a downward effect of rents as it might otherwise have. The latest Zumper National Rent Report ranks Philadelphia as the nation's 15th-most-expensive rental market, the same spot in the rankings it held last month. | Photo: Sandy Smith

Most of the new projects and upgrades in the Philadelphia market, such as Presidential City, seen here, are aimed at its upper end, which means that, when combined with continued strong demand, the new inventory isn’t putting as much downward pressure on rents as it might otherwise have. The latest Zumper National Rent Report ranks Philadelphia as the nation’s 15th-most-expensive rental market, the same spot in the rankings it held last month. | Photo: Sandy Smith

The good news: Philadelphia remains the second most affordable rental market in the Northeast.

The bad news: That doesn’t mean it’s one of the most affordable in the country – far from it, in fact.

The apartment search site Zumper released its November National Rent Report yesterday, and when it comes to median rents for one-bedroom apartments — the basis for its rankings — Philadelphia remains the 15th-most-expensive rental market in the country.

Furthermore, the median rent for a one-bedroom apartment in the city remained unchanged this month. By contrast, one-bedroom rents fell both nationally and in half of the nation’s 20 priciest markets from month-ago levels.

According to the Zumper report, the national median rent for a one-bedroom apartment fell 0.9 percent in October to $1,126 a month. In Philadelphia, that figure held steady at $1,400 a month.

However: for two-bedroom apartments, the news was a little better on the local front. While the median rent nationwide fell 0.5 percent in October to $1,344 per month, that figure dropped 1.9 percent in Philadelphia, to $1,540.

Relative to year-ago levels, Philadelphia remains a significantly more expensive place to rent. The median one-bedroom rent in October was 7.7 percent higher than it was a year ago, and the median two-bedroom rent 13.2 percent higher.

Zumper’s figures and rankings are based on data from more than one million active apartment listings nationwide, aggregated at the end of each month based on data for the month just ended. The rankings cover the rental markets in the nation’s 100 largest cities by population.