--- title: "August 2026 apartment rents up 0.9%: how to price fall renewals by market" description: "RealPage shows rents up 0.9% year over year and Yardi Matrix logs its first positive August in years, but 1.2 million units still in lease-up cap growth. Renewal pricing this fall depends on your submarket's lease-up share and concession rate, not the national line." date: 2026-09-14 updated: 2026-09-14 author: "Proppely Research Desk" kind: MARKET_TREND tags: ["rent-growth", "multifamily", "vacancy", "construction", "economy"] reading_minutes: 6 word_count: 1238 canonical: "https://www.proppely.com/insights/august-2026-apartment-rents-fall-renewal-pricing" html: "https://www.proppely.com/insights/august-2026-apartment-rents-fall-renewal-pricing" feed: "https://proppely.com/insights/feed.xml" license: "Free to read and cite with a link to the canonical URL." sources: - title: "Annual Rent Growth Strengthens as Apartment Market Recovery Continues (August 2026 U.S. Data Update)" url: "https://www.realpage.com/analytics/august-2026-us-data-update/" publisher: "RealPage Analytics" published: "2026-09-02" - title: "National Multifamily Market Report – August 2026" url: "https://www.yardimatrix.com/blog/national-multifamily-market-report/" publisher: "Yardi Matrix" published: "2026-09-10" - title: "Positive August Trends Brighten Multifamily Sector" url: "https://www.yardimatrix.com/blog/positive-august-trends-brighten-multifamily-sector/" publisher: "Yardi Matrix" published: "2026-09-08" - title: "Matrix Multifamily National Report – August 2026" url: "https://www.yardimatrix.com/multifamily-national/matrix-multifamily-national-report-august-2026/" publisher: "Yardi Matrix" published: "2026-09-03" - title: "Why lease-ups are stifling rent growth" url: "https://www.multifamilydive.com/news/multifamily-lease-ups-rent-growth/830227/" publisher: "Multifamily Dive" published: "2026-09-10" - title: "Multifamily rents up slightly in August, dampened by high lease-ups: Yardi" url: "https://www.multifamilydive.com/news/multifamily-rents-august-lease-ups-yardi/829832/" publisher: "Multifamily Dive" published: "2026-09-07" - title: "The West's Apartment Market Divide Widens as Regional Leaders and Laggards Pull Further Apart" url: "https://www.realpage.com/analytics/west-region-update-2nd-quarter-2206/" publisher: "RealPage Analytics" published: "2026-08-30" --- # August 2026 apartment rents up 0.9%: how to price fall renewals by market > RealPage shows rents up 0.9% year over year and Yardi Matrix logs its first positive August in years, but 1.2 million units still in lease-up cap growth. Renewal pricing this fall depends on your submarket's lease-up share and concession rate, not the national line. ## Key takeaways - RealPage reports same-store effective asking rents up 0.9% year over year in August 2026, and Yardi Matrix's advertised-rent series rose 0.4% to $1,773, its first positive August in years. - About 1.2 million units remain in lease-up, roughly double the prior decade's average, and that stock, not renter demand, is what caps rent growth in high-supply markets. - The recovery is split by supply: San Francisco, San Jose and the Midwest are posting solid gains while Austin, San Antonio, Tampa, Houston, Denver and Phoenix are still cutting rents. - Concessions were offered on 15.8% of stabilized units nationally in July and 21.1% in the South, with Austin at 37%, so renewal increases in those metros push residents into a discount-heavy market. - Price fall renewals by submarket lease-up share and concession rate: firmer in low-supply metros, retention-first in high-lease-up metros, and defensively on older assets near Class A lease-ups. National apartment rents have a plus sign in front of them again. RealPage puts same-store effective asking rents up [0.9% year over year in August](https://www.realpage.com/analytics/august-2026-us-data-update/), and Yardi Matrix's advertised-rent series reached [$1,773, up 0.4%](https://www.yardimatrix.com/blog/national-multifamily-market-report/), which Yardi describes as the first positive August in years. The catch is that roughly [1.2 million units](https://www.multifamilydive.com/news/multifamily-lease-ups-rent-growth/830227/) are still in lease-up, and that pipeline, not renter demand, sets the ceiling on what most operators can charge at fall renewals. ## What happened Two trackers, same direction. RealPage's August update shows annual growth [strengthening to 0.9%](https://www.realpage.com/analytics/august-2026-us-data-update/) after turning positive in July, with monthly growth at only [0.1%](https://www.realpage.com/analytics/august-2026-us-data-update/); much of the annual improvement is weak year-ago months dropping out of the comparison. RealPage's occupancy held at [95.5%](https://www.realpage.com/analytics/august-2026-us-data-update/), flat on the month and the year, but up [90 basis points](https://www.realpage.com/analytics/august-2026-us-data-update/) since the start of 2026. Yardi's series, which measures advertised rents rather than same-store effective rents, has the national average at [$1,773 in August, up 0.1% on the month and 0.4% on the year](https://www.yardimatrix.com/blog/national-multifamily-market-report/), the strongest annual reading in [nearly a year](https://www.yardimatrix.com/blog/positive-august-trends-brighten-multifamily-sector/). Yardi's report opens with advertised rents having now risen for [six consecutive months](https://www.yardimatrix.com/multifamily-national/matrix-multifamily-national-report-august-2026/) as the supply wave recedes. Supply is the story underneath. RealPage counts about [340,200 units](https://www.realpage.com/analytics/august-2026-us-data-update/) delivered in the year ending the second quarter, the first time in [roughly three years](https://www.realpage.com/analytics/august-2026-us-data-update/) that deliveries fell below the decade average, and well off the [588,000-unit peak](https://www.realpage.com/analytics/august-2026-us-data-update/) of late 2024. Yardi says starts and deliveries are down [one third](https://www.yardimatrix.com/blog/positive-august-trends-brighten-multifamily-sector/) from the 2023-24 cycle highs. Demand is not fully back, though: RealPage's annual absorption of about [271,300 units](https://www.realpage.com/analytics/august-2026-us-data-update/) trails the decade average of roughly [340,000](https://www.realpage.com/analytics/august-2026-us-data-update/), which RealPage attributes to net move-outs in late 2025. ## The lease-up mechanism Fewer deliveries do not lift rents right away, because units delivered at the peak of the cycle are still filling. Yardi counts roughly [1.2 million units in lease-up](https://www.multifamilydive.com/news/multifamily-lease-ups-rent-growth/830227/) at the start of August, down from a [1.4 million](https://www.multifamilydive.com/news/multifamily-lease-ups-rent-growth/830227/) peak in early 2025 but still about [double](https://www.multifamilydive.com/news/multifamily-lease-ups-rent-growth/830227/) the prior decade's average. Yardi's Paul Fiorilla told Multifamily Dive that rent growth tracks the share of stock in lease-up, and that "it's going to take probably a few quarters" for rents to recover, provided occupancy keeps improving, demand holds and supply keeps decelerating. Lease-up buildings compete on concessions, and stabilized buildings nearby have to answer. Multifamily Dive, citing RealPage data, reports concessions on [15.8% of stabilized units nationally in July](https://www.multifamilydive.com/news/multifamily-lease-ups-rent-growth/830227/), and on [21.1%](https://www.multifamilydive.com/news/multifamily-lease-ups-rent-growth/830227/) in the South. Austin led the top 50 markets with concessions on [37% of stabilized units at an average 15.2% discount](https://www.multifamilydive.com/news/multifamily-lease-ups-rent-growth/830227/), followed by [San Antonio at 32.6% and Denver at 31.7%](https://www.multifamilydive.com/news/multifamily-lease-ups-rent-growth/830227/). It is not only new product: about [25% of units in 1990s-vintage buildings](https://www.multifamilydive.com/news/multifamily-lease-ups-rent-growth/830227/) are offering concessions, up from [18% three years ago](https://www.multifamilydive.com/news/multifamily-lease-ups-rent-growth/830227/). That is the mechanism an operator feels: the lease-up down the street sets the effective price, and older assets discount to hold occupancy. ## The regional divide The national average hides a wide spread. Where lease-up share is low, rents are moving. RealPage has San Francisco at [14%](https://www.realpage.com/analytics/august-2026-us-data-update/) annual growth, San Jose at [8.7%](https://www.realpage.com/analytics/august-2026-us-data-update/) and Oakland at [6.2%](https://www.realpage.com/analytics/august-2026-us-data-update/). The Midwest led all four regions at [2%](https://www.realpage.com/analytics/august-2026-us-data-update/), with Milwaukee at [5.1%](https://www.realpage.com/analytics/august-2026-us-data-update/) and Chicago at [2.6%](https://www.realpage.com/analytics/august-2026-us-data-update/). Yardi's leaders line up: [San Francisco +6.1%, New York +5.3%, Kansas City +3.0%](https://www.yardimatrix.com/blog/national-multifamily-market-report/). RealPage's second-quarter West update credits the Bay Area's run to a demand surge against [minimal new supply](https://www.realpage.com/analytics/west-region-update-2nd-quarter-2206/) and says the Bay Area [appears poised to lead the country in 2027](https://www.realpage.com/analytics/west-region-update-2nd-quarter-2206/). Where lease-up share is high, rents are still falling. Yardi's highest lease-up shares are [Charlotte at 11.6%, Austin 10.9%, Phoenix 9.8%, Nashville 8.9%, Orlando 8.5% and Raleigh-Durham 8.1%](https://www.multifamilydive.com/news/multifamily-lease-ups-rent-growth/830227/). Those are the markets on the cut list: Yardi has [Austin -2.8%, Denver -2.0%, Tampa -1.8%, Houston -1.7% and Phoenix -1.6%](https://www.yardimatrix.com/blog/national-multifamily-market-report/), and RealPage shows [San Antonio down 3.7% at 93.1% occupancy](https://www.realpage.com/analytics/august-2026-us-data-update/) with Charlotte, Tampa and Houston cutting about [2%](https://www.realpage.com/analytics/august-2026-us-data-update/). RealPage flags the South as the [only region](https://www.realpage.com/analytics/august-2026-us-data-update/) still posting annual rent cuts and sub-95% occupancy. The direction is improving even where the level is negative. Yardi notes declines in Denver, Portland and Austin are shrinking, and says ["the sector appears to be moving in the right direction"](https://www.yardimatrix.com/blog/positive-august-trends-brighten-multifamily-sector/). RealPage has Phoenix and Austin cuts narrowing to [1% to 1.4%](https://www.realpage.com/analytics/august-2026-us-data-update/). One caution: Yardi's occupancy read is softer than RealPage's, at [94.2% in July, down 0.5% year over year](https://www.yardimatrix.com/blog/national-multifamily-market-report/), with San Francisco the only top-30 market to post an increase and [Tampa off 1.2%](https://www.multifamilydive.com/news/multifamily-rents-august-lease-ups-yardi/829832/). Different samples and methods; price against your own submarket comps, not either national line. There is a class split too. RealPage's West update reports Class C rents fell [2.4%](https://www.realpage.com/analytics/west-region-update-2nd-quarter-2206/) year over year in the second quarter, and the spread between Class A and Class C annual rent change was [460 basis points](https://www.realpage.com/analytics/west-region-update-2nd-quarter-2206/), only slightly narrower than the South's [480 basis points](https://www.realpage.com/analytics/west-region-update-2nd-quarter-2206/). Class A inventory in the region grew [2.5%](https://www.realpage.com/analytics/west-region-update-2nd-quarter-2206/) over the same period. Our read: discounted Class A product can pull residents up the ladder, which adds to the pressure RealPage already sees on Class C in vacation-driven Sun Belt metros from [thinner service and hospitality worker demand](https://www.realpage.com/analytics/august-2026-us-data-update/). ## Why it matters for property managers The national [+0.9%](https://www.realpage.com/analytics/august-2026-us-data-update/) is not your renewal number. The two inputs that decide a fall renewal are the lease-up share and the concession rate in your submarket, and those range from low in the Bay Area, where RealPage describes [essentially zero new supply](https://www.realpage.com/analytics/west-region-update-2nd-quarter-2206/), to [37% of stabilized units](https://www.multifamilydive.com/news/multifamily-lease-ups-rent-growth/830227/) offering concessions in Austin. In a low-supply metro, the bigger risk is under-pricing renewals while asking rents climb. In a high-lease-up metro, a renewal increase that sends a resident shopping runs into a market where, in the worst cases such as [Austin, San Antonio and Denver](https://www.multifamilydive.com/news/multifamily-lease-ups-rent-growth/830227/), roughly a third of stabilized competitors are offering concessions, and the turnover cost usually swamps the increase you were chasing. Older assets face the sharpest version of that: the Class C gap in the West is a signal that the resident you lose may not come back at your price. ## What to do this week 1. Bucket every fall expiration by submarket: low lease-up, high lease-up, or in between. Pull the lease-up count and concession use for the comps within a few miles, not the metro. 2. In low-supply submarkets, compare in-place rent to current new-lease asking rent unit by unit. Where the gap is wide, a firmer renewal is supportable; where it is narrow, hold. 3. In high-concession submarkets, lead with retention. Consider flat or modest renewals and non-rent trades such as term flexibility or an amortized credit rather than a headline cut, so the concession does not become the new base rent. 4. Audit older assets against Class A lease-ups nearby. If your Class B or C rent is within a few percent of a concession-adjusted Class A rent, expect move-outs and price defensively. 5. Check renewal-notice timing and any local rent-increase limits before offers go out. Rules vary by state and city; confirm with local counsel where you are unsure. 6. Re-forecast fourth-quarter concession spend using July's [15.8% national and 21.1% South](https://www.multifamilydive.com/news/multifamily-lease-ups-rent-growth/830227/) rates as a floor, not last year's budget. ## What we're watching Whether the lease-up count keeps falling from [1.2 million](https://www.multifamilydive.com/news/multifamily-lease-ups-rent-growth/830227/), and how fast; that is the single number that unlocks pricing in the Sun Belt. Whether occupancy follows RealPage's [90-basis-point](https://www.realpage.com/analytics/august-2026-us-data-update/) year-to-date climb or Yardi's [0.5%](https://www.yardimatrix.com/blog/national-multifamily-market-report/) annual slide. And the supply pipeline into 2027: [Yardi warns that trade tensions and military conflicts could raise construction and financing costs](https://www.yardimatrix.com/blog/positive-august-trends-brighten-multifamily-sector/), which would tighten future supply further and extend the runway for rent growth once the current wave clears. ## FAQ **Are apartment rents going up in 2026?** Slightly, at the national level. RealPage reports same-store effective asking rents up [0.9% year over year in August 2026](https://www.realpage.com/analytics/august-2026-us-data-update/) and Yardi Matrix reports advertised rents up [0.4%](https://www.yardimatrix.com/blog/national-multifamily-market-report/), but high-supply Sun Belt metros are still posting annual declines. **Why is apartment rent growth so weak when new construction is slowing down?** Because units delivered at the peak of the cycle are still leasing up. Yardi Matrix counts about [1.2 million units in lease-up](https://www.multifamilydive.com/news/multifamily-lease-ups-rent-growth/830227/), roughly double the prior decade's average, and those buildings compete on concessions that nearby stabilized properties have to match. **Should I raise rent on renewals this fall?** It depends on your submarket, not the national average. In metros where asking rents are rising, such as the Bay Area and the Midwest in RealPage's [August data](https://www.realpage.com/analytics/august-2026-us-data-update/), a firmer renewal is generally supportable; in high-lease-up metros where RealPage data shows concessions on [21.1% of stabilized units in the South](https://www.multifamilydive.com/news/multifamily-lease-ups-rent-growth/830227/), a retention-first approach usually costs less than turnover. Check local rent-increase and notice rules before sending offers. **Which apartment markets have the most concessions right now?** Multifamily Dive, citing RealPage, reports Austin led the top 50 markets with concessions on [37% of stabilized units at an average 15.2% discount](https://www.multifamilydive.com/news/multifamily-lease-ups-rent-growth/830227/), followed by San Antonio at 32.6% and Denver at 31.7%. ## Sources 1. [Annual Rent Growth Strengthens as Apartment Market Recovery Continues (August 2026 U.S. Data Update)](https://www.realpage.com/analytics/august-2026-us-data-update/) — RealPage Analytics 2. [National Multifamily Market Report – August 2026](https://www.yardimatrix.com/blog/national-multifamily-market-report/) — Yardi Matrix 3. [Positive August Trends Brighten Multifamily Sector](https://www.yardimatrix.com/blog/positive-august-trends-brighten-multifamily-sector/) — Yardi Matrix 4. [Matrix Multifamily National Report – August 2026](https://www.yardimatrix.com/multifamily-national/matrix-multifamily-national-report-august-2026/) — Yardi Matrix 5. [Why lease-ups are stifling rent growth](https://www.multifamilydive.com/news/multifamily-lease-ups-rent-growth/830227/) — Multifamily Dive 6. [Multifamily rents up slightly in August, dampened by high lease-ups: Yardi](https://www.multifamilydive.com/news/multifamily-rents-august-lease-ups-yardi/829832/) — Multifamily Dive 7. [The West's Apartment Market Divide Widens as Regional Leaders and Laggards Pull Further Apart](https://www.realpage.com/analytics/west-region-update-2nd-quarter-2206/) — RealPage Analytics --- Published by the Proppely Research Desk. Canonical: https://www.proppely.com/insights/august-2026-apartment-rents-fall-renewal-pricing