CHICAGO — Median rents for one-bedroom and two-bedroom units in the city are both up in January compared to a year ago, according to a new report.
The report, from Zumper, put the median rent in Chicago for a one-bedroom at $1,970 in January, up 10.7 percent from January of 2015.
Two-bedroom median rents in Chicago were $2,630, up 8.2 percent from the previous January, Zillow said.
The Near North Side had the most expensive rent for both one-bedroom and two-bedroom units: $2,260 and $3,180 respectively.
But a separate Zillow forecast for Chicago predicts that rents in December of 2016 will be 1.4 percent less than in December of 2015 as new units come onto the market in some neighborhoods.
The most expensive city to rent in was San Francisco with one-bedroom units at $3,490 and two-bedrooms at $4,630.
The most expensive neighborhood in the country to rent a one-bedroom unit is New York's Flatiron District. One bedroom unit median rent there was $4,640, Zumper said.
Median means half of homes rented for more, half for less.
"Median rents in all 35 of the nation’s largest metro markets grew year-over-year to some extent, though a dozen experienced modest month-over-month declines in rent, while two more were flat from November," a Zillow forecast said.
Rents grew fastest year-over-year in the San Francisco (up 12.5 percent from December 2014), Portland (up 9.7 percent) and San Jose (up 8.9 percent) metros."
As for the coming year, "hot rental markets are still going to be hot in 2016, but rents won’t rise as quickly as they have been."
The downtown Chicago rental market may cool as more units become available, with some 3,500 in coming in 2016 and another 4,500 in 2017, according Chicago Real Estate Daily. "There won't be enough new renters to live in all those new apartments," the story said.
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