The rise in housing prices and rising rents caused by increasing costs of living has led to dramatic increases in the U.S. rental rates.

recent study of national rent growth by rental listings site Zumper found that the median rent for one- and two-bedroom apartments has risen 12% and 14.1% respectively since January 2021 — a new all-time high. It’s quite a jump from the 0.6% annual rate in January 2021 to 0.3% in January 2020.

Zumper also ranks 100 of the most important rental markets in America. Here are 25 of the most costly cities to rent two-bedroom apartments based on their median rent prices.

Already, housing costs had risen rising before CovidBut pent-up demand, supply-chain disruptionsAnd reduced home constructionDuring the pandemic, the situation was made worse.

The pandemic caused rental prices to drop in large cities like New York, Boston, Los Angeles, and Boston. However, prices are now back at pre-pandemic levels in most cases and even exceeded in some instances.

San Francisco offers a notable exception: a 2-bedroom apartment with two bedrooms is now almost $1,000 below its peak in 2019. according to the Zumper’s data. San Francisco remains the most costly city to rent two-bedroom apartments in the United States.

Jeff Andrews (the author of this study) says that the urban exodus story was overblown. He says that home prices are high in middle-sized American cities because of a shortage of housing stock and pent-up demand. This has in turn affected rent prices.

Andrews states that “in markets where home values go up precipitously it’s also driving rent up,” The competition in home sales is so fierce. You’ll probably be out of pocket if you rent and try to buy in that market.

Particularly true in small cities such as Arizona, Florida or Tennessee where annual rent price rises of 15 to 25 percent are the norm.

The positive news for renters is the fact that rental prices have cooled somewhat. There was a 0.2% increase month-over-month in January, which compares to a 1.93% average monthly rise during the summer months in 2021. Andrews suggests that seasonality may be at play in these rates as the market for rental properties tends to cool down during winter.

Renters will have to wait for a better supply. Andrews says that there is some inventory that will be available in 2022 relative to 2021 and 2020. However, it won’t fill the supply gap that has been growing over the past 10 to 15 years.

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