U.S. rent price growth is showing signs of leveling off, as the median rent price in September decreased month-over-month for the first time this year, by 2.48%.

After soaring by nearly 20% earlier in 2022, year-over-year price growth has dropped to 8.79% in September, a Rent.com analysis found.

Rents are still high, though: The national median rent price is now $2,002, compared to $1,840 at the same time last year.

While prices trended down overall, some metropolitan markets saw bigger drops in than others. Of the largest 50 U.S. rental markets, these 10 cities saw the biggest month-over-month percentage decrease in September, according to Rent.com: 

1. Cincinnati: -6.8%
2. Columbus, Ohio: -5.7%
3. Los Angeles: -3.6%
4. San Antonio: -3.3%
5. San Francisco-Oakland, California: -2.8%
6. Indianapolis: -2.6%
7. Raleigh, North Carolina: -2.5%
8. Philadelphia: -2.4%
9. Birmingham, Alabama: -2.3%
10. New Orleans: -2.3%

Notably, five of these markets have had double-digit rent growth in the last year, suggesting a price correction in what were possibly overheated markets. 

Cincinnati had a 6.82% price decline in September — the largest of all cities last month — but it's also seen rents rise by roughly 16.5% since last September.

The downturn in rental prices follows a real estate market that has only recently started to cool off due to rising mortgage rates. After seemingly limitless home price growth of around 40% since early 2020, home prices have recently shown signs of flattening.

Median rent prices are derived from all available inventory using data pulled from a network of rental listing sites including Rent.com, Apartment Guide and Redfin. The top 50 metropolitan areas were determined by U.S. Census Bureau population estimates for 2021.

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