After rising by double digits a few years ago, rent growth has slowed recently as supply and demand continue to stabilize. This shift has not only impacted renters at the national level, but also here in Virginia. Let’s look at how rent has changed over the last few years for renters in the state and at the local level.

Statewide, rent rose at a moderate pace between 2-4% each quarter (compared to the prior year) from the first quarter of 2016 to 2020. This changed in 2021, as demand began to outpace supply. In Virginia, the price of a unit went from $1,470 to $1,618 in Q1 2022, 10.1% higher than the previous year. As rent and demand continued to climb, multifamily construction began to pick up with the state experiencing historic construction years in 2022 and 2023 with over 242,800 units in development. This resulted in 35,835 total units being delivered between 2023 and 2024 and led to a slowdown in rent growth which returned to pre-2020 levels. This trend continued into 2026 with rents up just 0.4% in the first quarter, the lowest it has been since the fourth quarter of 2020. Nominally, rent prices are still higher than they were a decade ago, with the average price per unit at $1,808 in Q1 2026. However, after adjusting for inflation, rent has dipped 0.4% since 2016.

Rent growth has softened over the past year across many of the state’s metro markets, with some areas experiencing a decrease in price. An example of this is in Northern Virginia where prices declined 1.5% from last year with the cost of a unit at $2,248 in Q1 2026. When accounting for inflation, rents in this area have declined 3.6% since 2022. Winchester is another area where prices decreased with the average rent at $1,503, down 0.5% from Q1 2025. A few of Virginia’s smaller markets saw higher levels of rent growth in the first quarter of this year. In Blacksburg, rent was $1,394 in the first quarter of 2026, up 3.2% from last year. Prices in Roanoke were up 2.8% in the first quarter of this year with the average apartment rent at $1,229. Across all local markets, Hampton Roads experienced the sharpest increase in rent growth year-over-year, up 4.1% with the average price per unit at $1,536 in Q1 2026.

Although rent growth is cooling, higher rent prices are causing affordability challenges for renters in the state, with 46% spending more than 30% of their income on housing according to the U.S. Census Bureau. This is an issue for both the rental and for-sale markets as increased rental costs make it more challenging for renters to transition to homeownership.

For more information on housing, demographic, and economic trends in Virginia, be sure to check out Virginia REALTORS^® other Economic Insights blogs.