How fast are Bellingham’s rent prices growing compared to cities nearby?
Rent prices in Bellingham grew the second-fastest last month among 20 cities analyzed in the Seattle metro area, a report released Wednesday, Sept. 10, showed. The same study found Bellingham had the fourth-fastest growing rent among the same 20 cities over the past year.
Zumper.com, a website used by renters to find houses, rooms, condos and apartments for rent, conducted the study by looking at the active listings in August 2020 across the 20 cities in the metro area and comparing that to previous data to show cities with the fastest-growing rents.
The study found that the one-bedroom rental price in Bellingham in August was $1,140 — 0.9% higher than prices in July. Only Tacoma had a greater monthly increase among the 20 cities examined at 4.1%, while Everett checked in third at 0.8%.
The $1,140 monthly rent only ranks Bellingham 16th highest overall, ahead of only Bremerton ($1,100), Lakewood ($1,020), Port Angeles ($950) and Oak Harbor ($950). Bellevue tops the list at $1,990, Zumper reported.
Year-over-year, Zumper found that Bellingham’s one-bedroom rental prices have climbed 6%, which ranks it fourth in the area behind only Lakewood (13%), Burien (12%) and Olympia (11%). Eleven cities remained the same or saw rent decreases the past year.
The silver lining to that news is that the price of two-bedroom rentals in Bellingham actually dropped by 0.7% in August to $1,350 — third-lowest in the region behind only Oak Harbor ($1,240) and Lakewood ($1,340). Bellevue once again led the way at $2,500 monthly rent for a two-bedroom.
Year-over-year, Bellingham’s two-bedroom rental rate increased by 2.3% — the ninth-slowest rate behind Redmond, Seattle, Bothell, Renton, Lynnwood, Shoreline, Tukwila and Everett, which all saw decreases. Port Angeles saw the largest annual increase for two-bedroom rentals at 15.4%.
This story was originally published September 10, 2020 at 12:21 PM.
