AUSTIN (KXAN) – After years of sky-high rent prices, costs in Austin are trending downward according to a new report. 

Data analysts from Rent.com, an apartment search engine, found that Austin had the largest decline of any U.S. city, with prices dropping more than 14% in the last year, per the report.

“Prices [in Austin] have really been steadily on the decline since May of 2022,” said  Jon Leckie, a researcher at Rent. “I think [prices] in Austin rose a lot faster and a lot more than other places. And so, it’s falling a bit faster than what we’re seeing elsewhere,” he continued. 

Though they have fallen 14%, Leckie said they are still considerably higher than in Feb. 2021, when rent prices started spiking. He said Austinites should continue to see these numbers balance out over the next few months. 

Compared to Austin, National rent prices have fallen only .4% in the last 12 months, per the report. 

Leckie said Austin rental prices cooling is in part due to vacancy rates increasing in the city. In 2022, the vacancy rate decreased to around 5%, which has now jumped up to about 8%, he said.

“Austin has done itself a lot of favors in terms of construction. It was ranked number one nationally last year in terms of new multifamily and single-family units that were permitted to be built,” Leckie continued. 

Austin real estate agent Louise Brazitis said that the more vacant units there are in a metropolitan area, the more power renters have to negotiate. 

“We’ve seen units that have been sitting for a little bit longer. And that’s where we’ve been in a great position to help advocate for [renters] and negotiate better lease terms or amenities that maybe weren’t being offered to that prospective tenant,” Brazitis, who works for Roxan Coffman Properties, said.