National apartment rent growth ran 2.1% year-over-year in March 2026 according to RealPage Market Analytics — the slowest pace since the early 2020s. Sun Belt markets that drove the 2021–2022 surge are now leading the deceleration.
The cooling reflects 2022's record construction pipeline delivering units to market. Concessions have returned in Austin and Nashville, with effective rents down 2–3% year over year in some submarkets.
For landlords with stabilized assets, this means slower NOI growth in the near term — and a stronger argument for evaluating exits via 1031 into different markets or asset classes.