Nashville rents decreased for the second month in a row in August, after rising continuously for years.

The median monthly apartment cost was down 0.6 percent over August 2017 from $1,500 to $1,491, according to a Zillow analysis.

The prices do not include concessions, such as a free or reduced first month of rent, commonly offered at new properties.

In July, median rent was $1,490 – the first year-over-year decrease in seven years.

Supply up

The slight reductions are the result of a handful of new apartment buildings opening downtown this year, resulting in reduced demand.

"Rents in Nashville are softening with the addition of new supply," said Skylar Olsen, Zillow's senior economist. "They will continue to soften until all the new units are absorbed."

But this slowdown isn't expected to bring meaningful relief from high costs.

"This is not going to really put a dent in rental affordability," Olsen said.

Nashville rent increases peaked three years ago, when they jumped 9.5 percent, according to data compiled by Zillow.

High demand for single-family homes

Nationwide, median apartment rents were $1,440 in August. That price was nearly doubled in Los Angeles, where median monthly rent was $2,751. It was $1,682 in Austin, and $1,449 in Orlando.

Housing demand in Nashville isn't expected to significantly slow for several years, though occupancy ebbs and flows with supply changes. The city is growing by more than 100 people a day.

Meanwhile, Nashville's single-family housing market is the 10th-fastest growing in the nation. The rate of its growth has slowed since last year, but home values still rose 8.6 percent since 2017.