As the prime rental season kicked off, the U.S. average rent prices rose by 2.5% year-over-year, according to RENTCafe.com’s May Rent Report.

The May national average rent is $1,442/month, $35 more than last year. As for the average rent in New Jersey’s largest cities, it is generally higher than the national average rent.

Here are a few takeaways from last month’s rental market in New Jersey:

·         Out of the large cities, the fastest growing rents in May were in East Orange, where rental apartment prices increased by 4.5%over the year and 0.5% month-over-month.

·         Trenton rental apartments saw the second highest annual increase, jumping by 4.1%, making them $44 more expensive than in the same month last year.

·         Although Union rents witnessed a 1.5% decrease since May last year, they still make the second-most expensive large rental market in New Jersey ($1,810).

·         Of the large cities analyzed, Jersey City has the state’s most expensive apartments for renters, with an average rent of $2,920.

·         Trenton and Newark are the two most affordable large cities to rent in with average prices of $1,124 and $1,176, respectively.

·         Orange City witnessed a 7.4% year-over-year rent growth, having the biggest jump of all the small and mid-size cities in the state.

·         Hoboken rents are still the state’s most expensive, although they show no increase month-over-month. In the course of 5 years, the average rent in Mile Square City has increased by almost 10%.

You can check out the New Jersey May rent report with interactive visuals here: https://www.rentcafe.com/blog/rental-market/local-rent-reports/new-jersey-rent-report-may-2019/

To compare it with other cities in the U.S., you can also have a look at the National May Rent Report.