Is rent going down?
Nobody can tell you where rent will be next year, but you can see what listings are doing today: in our data, 21% of rental listings have cut their asking price, and cuts get more common the longer a listing sits, up to about three months.
Are rent prices dropping right now?
Some are. In San Diego County, where we pull rental listings every night, between 8% and 13% of the listings we followed cut their asking price in each week since Sep 8, 2026, and the median cut was 3.6% to 4.0%. That share has gone up and down from one week to the next without a steady direction. It counts cuts on listings; it is not a measure of rent levels. Across the 7,790 rental listings whose price history we follow (San Diego County plus ZIPs our users browse, mostly elsewhere in Southern California and in Florida), 21% had cut at least once by the day we scored them, counting only cuts in our records. That is the share of listings whose asking price came down after they were first listed.
What happened each week
| Week | Followed | Cut | Share | Median cut |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 8 to Sep 14 | 7,966 | 833 | 10% | 3.8% |
| Sep 15 to Sep 21 | 8,939 | 882 | 10% | 3.8% |
| Sep 22 to Sep 28 | 8,912 | 828 | 9% | 3.6% |
| Sep 29 to Oct 5 | 7,330 | 615 | 8% | 3.6% |
| Oct 6 to Oct 12* | 5,184 | 517 | 10% | 3.8% |
| Oct 13 to Oct 19 | 7,820 | 979 | 13% | 4.0% |
| Oct 20 to Oct 26 | 7,922 | 848 | 11% | 3.7% |
San Diego County rental listings, in seven-day periods counted from Sep 8, 2026, the first day we followed them. "Followed" counts listings up at any point in the week; a cut is dated by the listing's own price history, or by the day we first saw the new price. The week that is still running is left out. *No pull that week: the row counts listings seen before and after it, with cuts dated from their own price history.
When do landlords cut the price?
The share that have cut is higher the longer a listing has been up, through about three months. At 31 to 60 days shown on Zillow, 30% of listings have cut, and at 61 to 90 days it is 34%. Past 90 days it is 22%. Among listings that cut, the median total cut is between 4.1% and 5.9% of the original ask, depending on how long the listing has been up. Days are Zillow's own count, which restarts when a listing is relisted, so the youngest rows include relisted listings carrying an older cut.
| Days shown on Zillow | Listings | Have cut | Median cut |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 to 7 days | 1,904 | 12% | 4.1% |
| 8 to 14 days | 1,140 | 16% | 4.8% |
| 15 to 30 days | 1,761 | 24% | 4.3% |
| 31 to 60 days | 1,566 | 30% | 5.0% |
| 61 to 90 days | 514 | 34% | 5.0% |
| over 90 days | 905 | 22% | 5.9% |
Fitted on Oct 30, 2026 from 7,790 rental listings seen since September. "Have cut" means cut by the day we scored the listing, counting only cuts in our records. Median cut is the total drop from the first asking price, among listings that cut.
Where are rents being cut most?
In San Diego County we can count cuts ZIP by ZIP. This table counts differently from the one above: it covers the 18,181 listings we followed from Sep 8, 2026 to Oct 30, 2026 in ZIPs with at least 30 of them, not the 7,790 in today's data, and its cut is the latest one, not the total. These are the ZIPs where the largest share of those listings cut their asking price at least once. Unlike the table above, these shares also count cuts made before we started following a listing, taken from Zillow's own price history on listings people opened, so the two tables are not directly comparable. For other cities, see the rent pages below.
| ZIP | Area | Listings | Cut | Latest cut |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 92027 | Escondido | 113 | 44% | 4.4% |
| 92129 | Rancho Penasquitos | 218 | 44% | 3.7% |
| 92110 | Bay Park / Morena | 260 | 44% | 3.9% |
| 92127 | Rancho Bernardo / 4S Ranch | 173 | 43% | 3.6% |
| 92120 | Del Cerro / Allied Gardens | 119 | 43% | 4.0% |
| 91911 | Chula Vista | 199 | 43% | 4.3% |
| 92083 | Vista | 136 | 43% | 4.0% |
| 92082 | Valley Center | 31 | 42% | 3.6% |
| 92124 | Tierrasanta | 55 | 42% | 3.6% |
| 92139 | Paradise Hills | 96 | 42% | 3.9% |
San Diego only. "Cut" is the share that cut at least once; "Latest cut" is the median size of each listing's most recent cut. ZIPs with 30 or more listings followed from Sep 8, 2026 to Oct 30, 2026.
Should you wait to rent or sign now?
Waiting for the whole market to drop is a guess, and we do not make it. What you can act on today is the listing in front of you. A listing that has sat for 30 days or more is already negotiable: about a third of listings that age have cut, and an empty unit costs the landlord rent every week. Offering less on that listing is not a bet on the market. It is a reasonable ask backed by how long the place has been empty and what similar places nearby are asking. A listing posted this week is a different conversation. See how to negotiate rent for what to say, and if a building offers weeks free instead, work out the net effective rent first.
When is rent cheapest?
We cannot say which month yet: our records start on Sep 8, 2026, less than a year ago. Within one listing's life we can answer. The asking price is most likely to have come down once a listing has sat 30 days: 30% of listings shown 31 to 60 days on Zillow have cut, and 34% at 61 to 90 days, the two highest shares of any age.
How do you check one listing?
Paste the link into lowball.rent/check. It shows how long the listing has really been up, including time before a relist, what similar listings nearby are asking, any price cuts it has already taken, and a message you can send the landlord with a specific offer. It works on a phone, with nothing to install. If you browse rentals on a computer, the free extension shows the same thing on every listing as you look.
Built 2026-10-30. Age figures fitted on 2026-10-30 from 7,790 rental listings seen since September, 1,670 of them cut by the day we scored them. Weekly and ZIP figures from San Diego County listings followed 2026-09-08 to 2026-10-30. These figures describe listings as they are, not where rents will go.