San Antonio has some of the fastest rising rents in the nation — beating out Austin

Although San Antonio’s housing market is starting to cool as interest rates rise and home buyers back out of contracts, the Alamo City’s rental market is still hot, according to a recent report.

According to Redfin, the average cost of rent in San Antonio rose 21% between last month and July 2021, placing the Alamo City as the No. 10 city with the fastest rising rents in the nation.

Top 10 Cities with the Highest Rent Inflation, according to Redfin:

1. Cincinnati, OH – 33%
2. Nashville, TN – 26%
3. Pittsburgh, PA – 24%
4. New York, NY – 23%
5. Newark, NJ – 23%
6. Nassau County, NY – 23%
7. New Brunswick, NJ – 23%
8. Seattle, WA – 22%
9. Indianapolis, IN – 21%
10. San Antonio, TX – 21%

Although the median asking price for a rental was $1,476 a month in San Antonio last month, July’s report was a slight improvement from June, when the median price was $1,501 a month, according to Redfin.

San Antonio rental inflation in July beat Austin, where year over year prices only rose 19% last month. Even so, San Antonio is still more affordable than its northern neighbor, where the median rent is $2,491, according to the report.

Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather said in the report that rent hikes from landlords may be subsiding as more people struggle with the rising costs of other necessities — like groceries.

Even so, Linda Lombardo, a local San Antonio realtor, recently told the Current that she anticipates rents to continue to rise as more homebuyers get priced out of the housing market due to rising interest rates.

“It’s very hard to get in there to look at a (rental) house,” Lombardo said. “You go to and look at it, put in an application, and they already got three other applications. It’s very competitive, and rent prices are rising.”

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