Metro Phoenix renters are getting a reprieve from rising monthly costs in the midst of escalating gas prices.
Rents are down in the Valley’s 10 biggest cities and aren’t expected to climb this year.
Glendale posted the biggest Valley drop, with its median rent for a one-bedroom plummeting 14.2% during the twelve months ending in February, according to apartment research firm Zumper.
“The Phoenix metro area is still working through one of the strongest supply waves in the country,” Crystal Chen, housing expert with Zumper, said.
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The Valley had a surge in apartment development during the past few years, ranking in the top five for new multi-family development nationally. That increase in supply has put pressure on prices and led to apartment owners offering more deals.
Chen said metro Phoenix has added more than 27,000 new rentals last year, and “that influx of supply continues to put downward pressure on rents.”
The Valley’s vacancy rate has climbed, leading to more empty apartments that landlords must offer deals to fill.
Apartment deals abound in metro Phoenix
More new apartments as population growth moderated led to fewer Valley rentals getting leased. That led to more rent deals.
Metro Phoenix’s rental vacancy rate climbed to 8.4% in 2025 from 7.9% in 2024, according to Realtor.com. It fell below 5% in 2021-22 when rents soared as people flocked to the Valley during the pandemic for more affordable homes.
Many Phoenix-area apartment complexes are offering one to two months of free rent, according to advertisements and multi-family analysts.
The median rent for a lifestyle unit, or higher-end metro Phoenix apartment, is down almost 4% in metro Phoenix, according to apartment research firm Yardi Matrix. Almost 90% of the new Valley apartments to go up last year were lifestyle rentals.
Sunbelt cities, like Phoenix, that boomed during the pandemic saw the biggest increases in concessions a couple of years ago.
Some research estimated nearly half of all Valley apartments were offering deals last year.
But deals aren’t expanding anymore, Chen said.
“The trend points to a market that’s beginning to rebalance after a major supply wave, but hasn’t fully normalized yet,” she said about metro Phoenix.
Where Valley rents fell the most
Glendale’s median one-bedroom rent plunged 14.2% to $1,030 during the past year, according to Zumper.
Chandler’s typical rent dropped 7.8%, to $1,410.
- Goodyear’s fell 7.3%, to $1,030.
- Phoenix’s rent is down 6.3%, to $1,200.
- Mesa’s rent declined 4%, to $1,200.
- Surprise is down 3.3%, to $1,460.
- Gilbert’s rent is down 2.5%, to $1,550.
- Tempe’s rent dipped 2.2%, to $1,350.
- Peoria’s rent ticked down 1.4%, to $1,360.
- Scottsdale’s rent dipped 1.2%, to $1,680.
Valley apartment concessions aren’t likely to go away this year.
Metro Phoenix rents are on track to drop more than 6% in 2026, according to Yardi Matrix.
Reporting by Catherine Reagor, Arizona Republic
