Feb. rent report: Paterson has the fastest growing rents this month

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.