Heading into the busy summer rental season, the Philly area is among the country's hottest markets
Competition for rentals is especially fierce in the Northeastern United States and on the coast of California, according to a Zillow report.
On the cusp of the busy summer rental season, the Philadelphia area is in the top 20 hottest rental markets in the country, according to an analysis by Zillow.
The Philadelphia metropolitan area ranked 19th in the company’s list of the most competitive, or “hottest,” rental markets for this summer. In the hottest markets, rents are rising, properties have low vacancy rates, and not many property managers are offering concessions, such as waived fees or a month or two of free rent.
It all comes down to a simple fact: renters want to move into these markets, but there aren’t enough homes to go around, said Kara Ng, senior economist at Zillow.
“The U.S. built more new units in 2024 than any year in the past half-century, but that boom largely bypassed the Northeast and coastal California, which is exactly why rental competition there is so intense,” Ng said in a statement.
Philadelphia has seen a lot of new apartment construction in recent years, but demand for rentals has been outpacing supply across the region. The suburbs of Philadelphia consistently rank among the country’s most competitive rental markets.
Across the Philadelphia metro, roughly three in 10 property managers are offering incentives to attract new tenants, according to Zillow. The median rent is about $1,900, up roughly 3% from last year. And Zillow predicts about 6% of the region’s rental units will be vacant over the next year, lower than the national forecast of slightly more than 7%.
The metro area of Rhode Island’s capital, Providence, took the top spot in Zillow’s ranking of hottest rental markets. There, rents are up 5% from last year. And about one in 10 property managers are offering concessions, the lowest share of the top 10 hottest markets. The vacancy rate is forecast to be about 5%.
Next in the rental market ranking are the pricey New York and San Francisco metro areas. Hartford, Conn., and Los Angeles round out the top five hottest markets.
