Are Renters Moving Faster Than Ever or Taking More Time?

Apartment hunting is a long process: determining your budget, identifying your wants and needs, researching apartment communities, touring each place, submitting rental applications, and finally signing a lease. Yet, renters are compressing these tasks into a short timeline nowadays. Find out how much faster renters are moving and the renter timeline in 2026.

Key Takeaways

• 94 percent of renters expect to move within 11 months or less in 2026, up from 83 percent in 2025—a clear sign that renters are moving faster than ever.
• 62 percent of renters expect to move within just 0-3 months in 2026, a 20-point jump from 42 percent in 2025 and the only timeline bucket that grew year over year.
• Long-term planning is disappearing: the share of renters expecting to move within 1-2 years dropped from 17 percent in 2025 to just 7 percent in 2026.

The Short Answer: Renters Are Moving Faster as 9 in 10 Renters Expect to Move in 11 Months or Less

Even looking back only a year shows a clear shift towards renters moving faster. A 2026 Apartments.com survey revealed that 94 percent of renters expect to move in under a year (11 months or less). In 2025, it was only 83 percent, showing an increase of 11 percent.

Six in ten renters expect to move within three months or less

Renters are not just moving fast; they’ve moving really fast. In 2026, 62 percent of renters expect to move within 0-3 months. That is the largest share out of all the options by far, and it was the only option that saw a jump from 2025 to 2026. There was a 20-point increase in renters who expect to move within 0-3 months, from 42 percent in 2025 to 62 percent in 2026.

The long-term planners (1-2 years) are disappearing fastest

As the majority of renters in 2026 expect to move within 0-3 months, all other options dropped in response. However, the largest decrease was found in the 1–2-year bucket.

In 2025, 17 percent of renters expected to move within 1-2 years. That option saw the biggest decline in 2026, dropping 10 points to seven percent. Not only are renters moving faster than ever, but there’s a decrease in those who are expecting to move in the future.

Why Are Renters Moving Faster?

The speed at which renters are moving is mainly dependent on their personal circumstances, like a lease ending, major life change, or affordability. From the same Apartments.com survey, reasons renters cited for their move stayed about the same, except for “I need affordable rent.” That one climbed six percent year over year, and it shows that renters are willing to uproot their lives in the search for affordability.

Competitive markets hasten the search

Outside influences also impact the speed at which renters move, like the competitiveness of the market. Renters have to act quickly, lest the property they’re interested in becomes unavailable.

Renters Are Narrowing Options to Search Faster

Renters’ search behavior also displays signs of the shift towards speed. In 2026, 73 percent of renters expected to research five or fewer apartments, increasing 26 points from 47 percent in the prior year. Limiting the options to less than five means fewer apartment communities to thoroughly vet, resulting in a faster search.

This trend towards researching fewer apartments shows up in even smaller counts. Jumping 15 percent from 2025, 41 percent of renters expect to research no more than three apartment communities. The renters who only plan to look at one apartment more than tripled from two percent in 2025 to seven percent in 2026.

For renters who want to move fast, new tools and technologies are allowing them to narrow their search more efficiently. Apartments.com has all the filters a renter could want to tailor their search to their needs, and the new Apartments.com Ai and Apartments.com ChatGPT app narrow that search even further. These tools allow renters to describe exactly what they need through natural conversation on a more personal level than filters can achieve.

Whether you need to move quickly or can take your time, Apartments.com has all the tools to help you find an apartment within your timeline.