85281, 85282, 85283 · peak month July

Tempe rental market

The most seasonal market in the Valley. The month you list matters more than almost anything you do to the property.

Get a rent estimate here Rentals in Tempe

Tempe, Phoenix metro residential streets

Tempe, 85281

Tempe on the numbers

$2,085Median asking rent, 2 bed
$1.94Rent per square foot
13 daysAverage days on market
5.2%Vacancy rate
64%Renter households
15 monthsAverage tenancy
+4.6%Rent, year on year
JulyPeak listing month

Reading this submarket

Tempe runs on an academic calendar and the data makes no attempt to hide it. Thirteen days on market is the annual average, but it is closer to four days in July and closer to twenty four in January. That single swing is the most actionable fact in this entire data set.

Stock splits three ways. North of University is student-dominated, with purpose-built blocks and older houses leased by the room. The corridor along Rural and Mill has filled with 2010s townhomes aimed at young professionals. South Tempe is a conventional family market with longer tenancies and a different rhythm entirely.

Our average tenancy of 15 months is the shortest on the list, which is a structural feature of a campus market rather than a failure. We plan for it: renewal offers go out 90 days ahead, and turnover work is scheduled against the academic calendar rather than against the vacancy date.

If you own here

Time your vacancy. A Tempe house that comes available in July leases in under a week at full asking. The same house in January takes three weeks and roughly 6 percent less rent.

Owner services

If you are renting here

The opposite is true for you. If you can move in December or January you will pay noticeably less for the same property and face almost no competition.

Tenant hub

Timing

Peak month is July and the softest is January. Concessions: seasonal. nothing in july, half a month free is normal in december and january.

The Phoenix rent cycle

School, transit and amenity context

Housing stock
1960s and 1970s block ranches near campus, 2010s townhomes along Rural and Mill, purpose-built student blocks north of University
Schools
Tempe Elementary and Tempe Union High School District. Strong for the family pockets in south Tempe, largely irrelevant to the student market north of University.
Transit and getting around
Light rail along Apache Boulevard, the Orbit free circulator network, and genuinely usable bike infrastructure. The lowest car dependence outside downtown.
Amenities nearby
ASU Tempe campus, Mill Avenue, Tempe Town Lake, Papago Park on the north edge, and the Tempe Marketplace retail corridor.