Where are rents rising and dropping in Las Vegas?

Rents are rising in some areas of the Las Vegas Valley and dropping in others, according to a new study by digital marketplace Zumper.

Las Vegas is the 67th-most-expensive city to rent, out of the 100 U.S. cities that Zumper studied, and the price of a median one-bedroom was up 0.8 percent in August over the previous month to $1,210 while the median two-bedroom price remained flat at $1,500.

New York has the highest rental prices in the country as the median price for a one-bedroom in the city now sits at $4,500.

Zumper’s report looked at four specific rental-heavy areas in the valley for rates (Henderson, Spring Valley, Winchester and the city of Las Vegas). Winchester is defined as north of Paradise and south of the Arts District.

Paradise has the highest median rent for a one-bedroom at $1,640, Henderson came in second at $1,460, Spring Valley was third at $1,430, Winchester was fourth at $1,220 and the lowest is in the city of Las Vegas at $1,210.

In terms of overall price increases annually, Paradise saw the biggest increase at 9.3 percent and Spring Valley saw a jump of 7.5 percent. The other three areas saw rental decreases with Winchester (down 10.9 percent) leading the way followed by the city of Las Vegas (down 3.2 percent).

‘Hot moving season’

Crystal Chen, an associate director of communications for Zumper, said Las Vegas rent is approximately $300 dollars more affordable than the national median.

“It’s notable that Las Vegas rent is down annually since we are in the hot moving season right now, which is typically when demand is at its highest throughout the year. This likely reflects the fact that there is a generous amount of new supply hitting the Las Vegas market and that is putting downward pressure on rent prices,” she said. “Las Vegas has nearly six thousand units being delivered in the next six months and new buildings are offering concessions like waived fees, gift cards and even up to six weeks of free rent to get people in the door.”

Chen said Zumper expects the overall Las Vegas rental rate to be “stable” for the rest of the year, or that it could start dropping into the winter months.

Zumper’s national rent index has the median one-bedroom up 1.6 percent annually to $1,534 while the median two-bedroom is up 2.7 percent to $1,915.

Zumper CEO Anthemos Georgiades said in a statement that the rental market nationally seems to be defying gravity right now, and even though a lot of new units have come online this year, the vacancy rate has held steady the past two quarters at 6.6 percent.

“In an era where the amount of new supply is shattering records, it’s remarkable to see vacancy rates holding steady this year,” he said. “Strong renter retention alongside our growing national rent index underscores the robust demand present in the U.S. market.”

Rental rates largely stable

A new report from Redfin has the nationwide rental rate up 0.9 percent year over year, which is the biggest annual increase since April 2023. Redfin senior economist Sheharyar Bokhari said that while rents rose the most in close to 18 months, last month marked two years since national rental rates were at all-time highs and that overall “rental affordability has improved.”

“Almost everything in our lives costs more than it did two years ago, but rents have remained largely stable thanks to the construction boom, especially across the Sun Belt states,” Bokhari said. “We are seeing rents tick up a little now that new construction is starting to slow down, but asking rents are likely to stay relatively flat for some time due to the backlog of new apartments that are still coming onto the market.”

Contact Patrick Blennerhassett at pblennerhassett@reviewjournal.com.