Midwestern Metro Turns Drastically Renter-Friendly as Apartment Vacancies Surge

Renters in a growing number of major metros entered the new year enjoying improved leasing conditions as vacancies climbed, with Milwaukee seeing the biggest surge.

Twenty-seven markets closed out 2025 with higher rental vacancy rates compared with a year before, with seven metros—from California to New York—turning more renter-friendly largely thanks to steady multifamily construction, according to the Realtor.com® January rental report.

A rental vacancy rate of 5% to 7% is generally considered a balanced market, where supply and demand are well matched, offering tenants some choice while allowing landlords to lease without offering major discounts.

Markets with vacancy rates below 5% typically favor landlords, while those surpassing 7% tend to give renters the upper hand, consistent with basic supply-and-demand dynamics. 

The average rental vacancy rate across the top 50 metros reached 7.6% in 2025, up from 7.2% in 2024, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's Housing Vacancies and Homeownership report.

Realtor.com economist Jiayi Xu says this shift indicates that the typical American renter today holds a greater advantage when leasing a home than in the past.

A closer look at vacancy rates in the 50 largest rental markets reveals that 22 are considered balanced; 22 others are renter-friendly, led by Birmingham, AL (14.3%); and just six are landlord-friendly.

Brew Town sees dramatic shift

Seven major rental markets switched from being landlord-friendly to either balanced or renter-friendly, but none experienced as dramatic a shift as Milwaukee.

Wisconsin's largest city with a population of over half a million people saw its rental vacancy skyrocket from 4.9% in 2024 to 10.8% last year, promising tenants more options and greater negotiating power.

Xu explains that Milwaukee's rapid transition from a landlord-friendly column to renter-friendly is due to a spike in multifamily supply, with building permits nearly tripling—from just 700 in 2019 to over 2,000 in 2024.

Justin Hoffmann, a real estate agent with Team Hoffmann Re/Max Lakeside, confirms to Realtor.com that thousands of new housing units have sprung up in Milwaukee since 2022, especially in downtown and high-end suburban enclaves.

"From a local perspective, suburban luxury apartments have been overdeveloped in certain corridors," says Hoffmann. "Much of this new inventory targets higher-income renters, creating excess supply at the top of the market."

At the same time, elevated mortgage rates over 6% have kept some potential first-time homebuyers renting longer, but not enough to absorb the surge in expensive units.

According to the agent, the surge in vacancies has modestly improved renter leverage, especially in the luxury segment.

In January, the typical rental in Milwaukee had an asking rent of $1,630 per month, up 1.2% compared with the year before. 

For comparison, median asking rent in Wisconsin’s Brew City was $1,678 in December 2025, reflecting a 5.3% year-over-year increase—a sign that rent growth is beginning to level off. 

Hoffmann points out that many landlords aggressively raised rents during the pandemic years to offset taxes, insurance, and maintenance increases, and that pricing likely overshot what the market could sustain.

"As a result, some renters are relocating from downtown luxury units to more affordable suburban options, contributing to higher vacancies in premium urban buildings," he adds.

Landlords are starting to adjust to this new, renter-friendly reality by offering concessions again, including one month free, reduced deposits, parking perks, and greater lease flexibility.

But Hoffmann says there is one caveat apartment hunters should keep in mind.

"It is not a renter’s market across all price points, but in higher-end suburban and downtown Class A properties, renters have more negotiating power today than they did 18 to 24 months ago," he concludes.

Similar to Milwaukee, Portland, OR, shifted from a balanced market to a renter-friendly one as the city's vacancy rate rose from 5.7% to 7.4% year over year.

Five other markets—Denver; Hartford, CT; Rochester, NY; Sacramento, CA; and Washington, DC—moved from landlord-friendly to balanced.

Metros where landlords are still in control

While renters have gained in nearly two dozen markets, six metros remain firmly landlord-friendly, with Boston leading the pack with a vacancy rate of just 3.2%.

Tenants were similarly at a disadvantage in Riverside, CA, where the share of vacant units stood at 3.3% in 2025; San Jose, CA (3.5%); Providence, RI (3.7%); Los Angeles (4.4%); and New York City (4.6%).

"Meanwhile, in addition to the low vacancy rate in San Jose and New York, the continued year-over-year rent growth of 1.9% in San Jose and 0.8% in New York suggests these markets are currently in very tight conditions," says Xu.

Additionally, seven markets, including major employment hubs Pittsburgh and Richmond, VA—switched from renter- to landlord-friendly status as vacancy rates decreased while prices ticked up annually due to rising out-of-market demand.

Rents continue trending down

January marked the 29th consecutive month of year-over-year rent declines, with the typical asking rent shedding $26, or 1.5%, compared with the same period in 2025. 

The median rent across the 50 largest U.S. metros was $1,672 last month, down $85 from its August 2022 peak.

Median asking rents fell year over year across all unit sizes, with two-bedrooms seeing the largest annual decrease of 1.7%, registering at $1,847 in January.

The rent for one-bedroom units dipped 1.4%, standing at $1,552, while the typical rent for a studio fell by 1.2%, down to $1,393.