The US’s average rental rate fell 0.18 percent in November, the largest monthly drop in more than 15 years, according to real estate research firm CoStar. Driving that decline: lower rents in big cities like Austin, Denver and Phoenix, as well as vacation destinations like Naples, Florida; Asheville, North Carolina; and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

New building openings are bringing rents down as wealthy tenants trade up, forcing landlords to drop prices for older apartments. Rents for older units have fallen as much as 11%, and some are now on offer at rates as low as homes that are usually designated as “affordable” and come with restrictions including rent control and rent stabilization.

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The cities where older buildings’ rents fell the most saw new apartments built at a much higher rate than the national average. In the cities that added new apartments at lower rates — below the national average — rents barely budged.

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The supply of luxury buildings over the past couple of years has driven down rents and helped ease some of the affordability issues in those cities even though the development of affordable housing was comparatively slow, amounting to hundreds rather than thousands of new units built per quarter.

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To be sure, relying on luxury developments to address the housing crisis isn’t a long-term solution — with developers already pulling back on plans for new buildings in places where rents have fallen the most. The number of new apartments opening for rent across the country is expected to drop by half next year from its mid-2024 peak.