There’s some good news for Bellingham renters to start off 2020
Rent increases appear to be slowing down in Bellingham, with median rates starting to drop in some situations.
That’s according to a report from the real estate website Zumper, which looked at December active house and apartment listings in Bellingham and other Washington cities.
The median is the rent where half the values are below it, and half are above.
According to the report, median rent in Bellingham for a one-bedroom unit was $1,100 a month. That’s the same average as November and up less than 1% compared to a year ago. The median rent for a two-bedroom unit was $1,360 in December, down 3.5% compared to November, but up 4.5% year-over-year.
Among the 24 areas surveyed, Bellingham ranked 20th highest for median one-bedroom rent. Only Lakewood, Oak Harbor, Wenatchee and Port Angeles had lower median rates. Kirkland had the highest monthly median at $2,090.
It’s possible that supply is finally starting to catch up with demand, particularly with apartment construction. According to data from the city, permits were issued for 1,011 residential units in 2019, making it the highest issuance level in at least a decade. This comes on the heels of a busy 2018 in terms of residential permit activity in Bellingham.
That increased construction activity does seem to be reflected in the data, said Crystal Chen, a spokeswoman for Zumper. Rents have been relatively stable in the past year for Bellingham, with some slight upticks, she said.
“This overall stability shows a healthy relationship of demand and supply in this market,” Chen said.
Going into spring Chen expects rental demand to pick up, which could mean more increases. However, the increases shouldn’t be very large if more supply becomes available, she said.
