Nashville's rental market is currently experiencing 15 consecutive months of declining rent prices, making it more affordable for renters. Here's everything you need to know.
The Hard Facts:
- As of May 2025, Nashville's median asking rent dropped 3.4% year-over-year, according to a Redfin analysis.
- A Zumper report from January 2025 indicated that one-bedroom rent decreased by 7.5%, and two-bedroom rent decreased by 6.3% since January 2024.
- Another Redfin report from March 2025 stated that Nashville rents were down 6% since the previous year.
Reasons for Decline:
- Apartment Oversupply: Apartment construction in America has been near a 50-year high, resulting in an oversupply of units, particularly in the last five years. Nashville's apartment development market in 2024 and 2025 has been characterized by a considerable influx of new units, particularly in the Downtown and Southeast submarkets. Despite high absorption rates, the sheer volume of new construction has led to some softening of the market and downward pressure on rents even on single family and townhome rents.
- Accidental Landlords: It's been an uphill battle for homeowners to sell in the last 12 months due to buyer stagnation caused by the FED'S refusal to lower interest rates -- enticing many Nashville homeowners to opt into renting their home until rates and buyer sentiment improves. This has increased supply of single family and townhome rentals in an already saturated market.
- High Vacancy Rates and Concessions: Many apartment units are sitting vacant for months, and Nashville's vacancy rate is at a 20-year high forcing some apartment owners to offer 1-3 months free rent as a concession just to compete with surrounding new builds. While it's not an apples to apples comparison in relation to single family and townhome rentals, there has been a trickle-down effect with the renter pool that WAS targeting a single family home or townhome is now opting for the apartment life to take advantage of the 2-3 months free rent.
- Renter Leverage: This oversupply gives renters the power to negotiate concessions, and landlords have less flexibility to maintain high rents.
Nationwide Comparison:
- National Markets vs. Nashville: The national median U.S. asking rent price declined 1% year-over-year in May 2025. This marks the 15th consecutive month of relatively stable national asking rents, a significant change from the pandemic era when rents surged up to 17.7%. Whereas Nashville's rent decline is more pronounced which led the Nation at 4.8% in 2024 and another 3.4% drop in 2025.
- US Ranking: Despite the drops, Nashville still ranks as the 27th most expensive city to live in the United States.
Long-Term Outlook:
- With 17-20% rent increases during the pandemic, Nashville was due for a correction at some point, but forecasters didn't predict this steep of a decline in this amount of time. While the current trend provides some relief for renters, analysts suggest that the long-term impact on affordability remains uncertain, as rent prices have not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels.
