Rental Market Heats Up as Peak Leasing Season Begins MABA MassachusettsRealEstate FirstTimeHomeBuyers MaBuyerAgent

The busiest week of the year for rental seekers is upon us, as data from Zillow Rentals reveals that the first week of June will bring a spike in activity on the platform, as listing views, rental applications, and outreach to property managers have all peaked at this time over the past two years.

“Summer is always a busy time for rentals, but it’s also when the most new listings hit the market,” said Emily McDonald, Zillow Rental Trends Expert. “Knowing when demand spikes can help renters plan ahead, act quickly and use smart tools to find a place that checks all their boxes without blowing their budget. You’ll still have options later if you miss the rush, but you might miss out on freebies available now.”

Renters Relish in Record Year

Zillow has found that rental activity is already outpacing the past two years in terms of apartment views, lease creations, and rental applications, indicators that this year’s peak could be even higher. A record-high forty six million households rent, and renters are nearly four times more likely to move than homeowners, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Demand is up, and so is inventory, with Zillow reporting there are more than two million active listings including single-family rentals, apartment units and condominiums, an all-time high for the platform.

A construction boom added more new rental units in 2024 than in any year since the 1970’s, but the wave of lease concessions used to attract tenants is starting to ebb. According to Zillow’s latest Rental Market Report, the share of listings offering incentives like a free month’s rent dropped from nearly forty percent in March to under thirty five percent in April.

While most metro areas are experiencing positive mild rent growth, landlords are still providing short-term relief through incentives, with more than forty one percent of Zillow rental listings featuring concessions in February 2025 consistent with data reported in January 2025. After seven months of rising rent concessions, this trend has now stabilized, and may have peaked in January. As competition in the rental market heats up and more relocate, landlords are likely to reduce these incentives.

Affordability Concerns Linger

Many are still struggling with affordability concerns as rates are creeping upward and home prices remain high, leaving rent as their lone option.

Freddie Mac reports that the thirty year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged six point eighty nine percent as of May 29, 2025, up from last week when it averaged six point eighty six percent, but down year-over-year when it averaged seven point three percent. Zillow’s latest analysis of home prices finds that the average U.S. home value is $367,711, up one point four percent over the past year.

Zillow found that since April 2020, rent for a typical U.S. apartment has increased by twenty eight point seven percent, to $1,858, while rent for a single-family home increased by forty two point nine percent, to $2,256. Over that time, the median household income has only risen twenty two point five percent to about $82,000, indicating that wages have not kept pace with rents. Since the beginning of the pandemic, rents have increased by thirty five point four percent.

A renter making the median income and leasing a typical U.S. rental is just on the right side of the thirty percent affordability line the rent burden threshold being forced to spend twenty nine point six percent of their income on rent. To keep below that thirty percent line, renters in San Jose, New York, Boston, San Diego, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Miami and Riverside, California, generally need to earn six figures. The typical rent in these markets is many hundreds of dollars above the average national asking rent of $2,024.

Click here for more on Zillow’s analysis of U.S. rental trends in April 2025.

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