Iowa Rent Report – July 2019

Alexandra Ciuntu-August 15, 2019

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The national average rent reached $1,469 in July, up by 3.4% ($48) year-over-year, and 0.2% ($3) month-over-month, according to data from Yardi Matrix.
The average rent in Des Moines reached $901, 1% ($9) more per month than a year ago.
Council Bluffs, IA renters saw the highest annual rent increase in July, reaching $915 per month.
Ankeny, IA apartments are the most expensive among the cities analyzed, while apartments in Urbandale, IA have the cheapest rents.

The national average rent inches up another $3 in July, reaching $1,469 per month

Nationally, the average rent went up by 3.4% year-over-year, reaching $1,469 in July. Overall, renters had to pay $48 more than they did at the same time last year, according to the latest rent survey from Yardi Matrix. However, July also displayed the slowest month-over-month increase since February, which at 0.2% is a clear signal that peak rental season is nearing its end. The trend is in line with last year’s data – once the busy late spring to early summer period winds down, rents are expected to slow their growth throughout the rest of the year.

Renting in Iowa’s cities in July 2019

The average rent in Iowa cities is generally lower than the national average rent. The average rent in Des Moines reached $901 per month in July, up by 1% year-over-year or $9 more per month above what renters were paying a year ago.

The fastest growing rents in July happened in Council Bluffs, where rental apartment prices increased by 8.7% over the year ($73 more expensive than last year). Altoona apartment prices saw the second-highest annual increase, jumping by 3.8% ($35), while West Des Moines had the third-fastest rent increases, up by 2.9% ($28). Among the cities analyzed, only Johnston registered an annual rent drop, down by 0.7% ($8 less expensive than in July 2018).

Of the cities analyzed, Ankeny apartments are the state’s most expensive for renters, with an average rent of $1,122/month, followed by apartments in Johnston, where the average rent is $1,099. On the other hand, the cheapest cities in Iowa to rent an apartment in are Urbandale ($854) and Des Moines ($901).

To compare the rental market in Iowa with other cities in the U.S., you can also check our national July rent report.

Methodology

RentCafe.com is a nationwide apartment search website that enables renters to easily find apartments and houses for rent throughout the United States.

The data on average rents included in our reports comes directly from competitively-rented (market-rate) large-scale multifamily properties (50+ units in size), via telephone survey. The data is compiled and reported by our sister company Yardi Matrix, a business development and asset management tool for brokers, sponsors, banks and equity sources underwriting investments in the multifamily, office, industrial and self-storage sectors. Fully-affordable properties are not included in the survey and are not reported in rental rate averages. Local rent reports include only cities with a statistically-relevant stock of large-scale multifamily properties of 50+ units.

Fair use and redistribution

We encourage you and freely grant you permission to reuse, host, or repost the images in this article. When doing so, we only ask that you kindly attribute the authors by linking to RentCafe.com or this page, so that your readers can learn more about this project, the research behind it and its methodology.

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Alexandra Ciuntu

Alexandra is a creative writer and researcher for RentCafe. With a background in e-learning content writing and a passion for knowledge-sharing platforms, she's covered topics from prop-tech to renters insurance to interior design tips. Very familiar with the renter lifestyle herself, Alexandra enjoys researching and writing about renter demographic shifts and residential real estate market trends as much as she loves writing about how to get along with roommates. You can connect with Alexandra via email.

Alexandra’s work includes collaborations with financial and business publications. Her articles have been featured in several national and international online publications, including the New York Times, Barrons, Inman, Forbes, Architectural Digest, Marketwatch, Bisnow, and Curbed. Her educational background includes a B.A. in Japanese and English and an M.A. in Journalism and Cultural Studies.