Updated October 2026. Phoenix rents in 2026 are roughly flat to slightly lower than a year ago, and landlords are offering more concessions than in most U.S. metros. Zillow’s Observed Rent Index put the typical Phoenix rent at $1,718 in January 2026, down 0.6% from a year earlier. Apartment researchers expect the market to steady in the second half of the year as fewer new units are completed. Forecasts still range from small gains to further declines.

Here’s what the published numbers show, where they disagree, and what that means if you own or rent a single-family home in the Valley.

Where Phoenix rents stand

Zillow: flat rents, lots of concessions

AZ Business Magazine reported Zillow’s January 2026 figures on March 16, 2026. Phoenix’s typical rent was $1,718, up 0.1% from December and down 0.6% from January 2025. Nationally, the typical rent was $1,895, up 2.0% year over year. Phoenix was one of the few large metros where rents fell.

Concessions stood out. Zillow found 58.0% of Phoenix rental listings offered a concession, such as free weeks or reduced deposits, compared with 38.8% nationally. Affordability improved too. Typical rent took 21.7% of the area’s median income, versus 26.4% nationally.

Zumper: one-bedroom rents down across the Valley

The Arizona Republic, in a March 31, 2026 story republished by The Copper Courier, reported Zumper’s median one-bedroom rents for the 12 months ending February 2026:

• Phoenix: $1,200, down 6.3%
• Chandler: $1,410, down 7.8%
• Gilbert: $1,550, down 2.5%
• Mesa: $1,200, down 4%
• Tempe: $1,350, down 2.2%
• Scottsdale: $1,680, down 1.2%
• Glendale: $1,030, down 14.2%

The same story cited Realtor.com data showing the metro rental vacancy rate rose to 8.4% in 2025 from 7.9% in 2024. A Zumper analyst attributed the soft rents to more than 27,000 rentals added to the metro last year.

Northmarq: apartments steadied by midyear

Northmarq’s Phoenix multifamily report for the second quarter of 2026 showed signs of stabilizing. Vacancy fell to 6.6%, the lowest in about three years. The average asking apartment rent was $1,519, down 1.8% year over year but up about 0.7% since the end of 2025. Roughly 6,700 units were completed in the first half of 2026, down 13% from the same period in 2025.

Why the numbers don’t match

Each source measures something different. Zillow’s index tracks typical asking rents across the rental market. Zumper reports median one-bedroom asking rents, which lean heavily toward apartments. Northmarq tracks asking rents in professionally managed apartment complexes. None of them is a single-family lease report, and asking rents don’t capture concessions, so the effective rent a tenant pays can be lower than the listed price. Read them for direction, not as a price for any one house.

The 2026 forecasts disagree

Two published forecasts point in different directions:

• Yardi Matrix, as reported in the March 2026 Arizona Republic story, projected metro Phoenix rents would fall more than 6% in 2026.
• Northmarq’s Q2 2026 report projected apartment rents ending the year around $1,520, a 0.7% annual gain, with vacancy rising to 7.3% by year-end as about 14,000 units are delivered for the full year.

The Northmarq forecast came later and reflects first-half data, which helps explain the gap. Both describe a market working through a large wave of new apartments, with fewer units coming in 2026 than in 2025.

What this means for single-family rentals

Most of the numbers above track apartments. Single-family homes compete with apartments, but they serve a somewhat different renter. Many single-family tenants want a yard, a garage, more bedrooms or a particular school area. Even so, when new apartment complexes offer a month or two free, renters notice, and homes priced above the market sit longer.

For owners, the practical lessons for late 2026:

• Price from current comparable leases, not from what the home rented for in 2023 or 2024.
• Expect renters to compare move-in costs, not just monthly rent. Small concessions can cost less than an extra month of vacancy.
• Renewals are worth protecting. A modest or flat renewal often beats turnover costs and a vacant month in a soft market. Our tenant retention guide covers how.
• Condition matters more when renters have choices. Fresh paint, clean carpet and working cooling help a home lease faster.
• Think about lease length. A lease that ends in late spring or early summer usually lands in a busier leasing season than one that ends in December.
• Screen as carefully as ever. A soft market tempts owners to approve a weak application just to fill a vacancy, and an eviction costs far more than a few extra weeks of marketing.
• Watch your submarket. City-level medians moved very differently over the past year, and the gap between neighborhoods within a city can be wider still.

Signals to watch into 2027

If you’re deciding whether to raise a renewal, hold rent or sell, these are the indicators to follow:

• Concession share. When fewer listings offer free weeks or reduced deposits, landlords have more pricing power.
• Vacancy. Northmarq expects apartment vacancy to tick up to about 7.3% by the end of 2026 before construction slows further.
• New deliveries. Fewer completions in 2026 than in 2025 should ease competition over time.
• Days on market for single-family rentals in your neighborhood. This local measure usually moves before the metro averages do.
• Renewal acceptance. If most tenants accept renewals at current terms, the market is firmer than headlines suggest.

What this means for renters

For tenants, 2026 is a better year to negotiate than the past several. Ask about move-in specials, compare total costs over the full lease, and check renewal offers against current listings. Single-family homes in popular school areas and newer communities can still lease quickly, so good homes don’t stay available for long.

Get a current price for your home

These market averages can’t price a specific house. Property Plus USA prepares a rental pricing analysis for each home using current comparable listings and leases, and lists homes on ARMLS, the Phoenix-area MLS, as part of our marketing. We manage homes across the Valley, including Chandler. Request a free rental analysis through our contact page or call 480-586-3700.

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