Nevada is just one of seven states in the country to have a year-over-year rent decrease, according to a new report from Rent.

Nevada saw a 1.88 percent decrease, joining other states like Idaho, Washington, Minnesota, Virginia, Massachusetts, and Colorado. Nevada's decrease was the second largest among the seven states.

This follows a decade of rent growth in Las Vegas that finally ended in the Fourth Quarter of last year and several years of extraordinarily high spikes in rent through the pandemic as inventory lessened and more people moved into the state.

"We've put this period of extreme growth behind us. We're sort of getting back to normal growth periods in the state of Nevada," said Jon Leckie, a researcher with Rent. "You had a peak in August, and you're down about 6% even since then. So all that's a good sign. But really, Nevada and Las Vegas really started moderating in sort of late fall, early winter of last year, and have sort of been holding relatively steady ever since then."

In the Las Vegas metro specifically, the median rent hit $1,798 in February with a month-over-month change of -2.63%. However, Las Vegas still saw a yearly growth of 2.58%, according to Rent.

In dollar amounts, the average rent in Las Vegas went down $74 since an August peak and $101 in the state.

"I think it's a confusing time for renters because a lot of the reporting is around how rent prices are starting to come down," Leckie said. "And so I think that can give us sort of a false impression to renters. Sometimes, I think renters should still be prepared to pay more on a yearly basis."

Rents are still broadly up compared to where they were before the pandemic hit. Leckie said the average price of $1250 per month for a Vegas apartment is a "bygone era."

Leckie also noted how rent used to be tied to the seasons, with prices going down in the fall and winter months. That trend ended the past two years during the height of the coronavirus pandemic, but he suspects seasonality will once again start impacting the rental market soon.

"The yearly growth numbers have been reducing, which was good news. But the month-over-month declines have also been getting smaller," said Leckie. "So that suggests to me we're about to hit sort of a bottom to any of this sort of more recent price moderation. And I think we'll start to see prices tick back up again, as we get into the spring and in the summer."

Meantime, if renters want to take advantage of the current decreases, he said it's always worth trying to negotiate with landlords and look into the many concessions still being offered to lure in occupants.

"If you like where you're at, and you can afford it, you probably have a little bit more leverage staying than you do leaving," Leckie said. "Landlords are much more willing to work with tenants that they know who have been good tenants, rather than taking a risk on someone who they don't know."