Most cities throughout New Jersey saw rent increases in February, with Paterson leading the pack, according to RentCafe’s New Jersey Rent Report.
The national average rent was $1,468 in February, maintaining the same 3.2% or $46 annual growth as January. Overall, rents are growing a bit slower than the same period last year, when they were rising 3.5% year-over-year.
As for New Jersey, the state’s largest cities generally have higher rents than the national average.
Apartments in Newark, the state’s largest city, rented for $1,218 on average in February, an increase of 3.2% or $38 year-over-year to $1,342.
The fastest-growing rents this month were in Paterson, where apartment prices shot up by 10.6% since last year, or $129. Camden came in second, jumping by 8.6% over the year to $1,018. Following that comes Long Branch, up 7.5% to $2,028.
In Harrison, apartment prices decreased the most by 3.4% to $2,138 compared to last February, followed by Rahway’s downtick of 0.9% to $1,846 and Springfield’s loss of 0.7% to $2,290.
The state’s most expensive city to rent an apartment in is Hoboken, with an average price of $3,579, followed by Edgewater at $3,250, Weehawken at $3,094, Jersey City at $2,986 and Fort Lee at $2,564.
The cheapest places to rent in the state was Lindenwold, with an average rent of $995. The city is the only one analyzed with rents under $1,000. Coming in second-cheapest was Irvington at $1,016 followed by Camden ($1,018), Burlington ($1,065) and Trenton ($1,111).
Here are some more notables in New Jersey’s rental market:
- Jersey City, the nation’s fourth most expensive city for small renters, averaged rent at $2,986 in February after a 2.3% increase over the year.
- Hoboken still remains the most expensive city for renters, with Lindenwold at the opposite end.
- Newark is the most affordable large city for renters in the state.
