Axios Des Moines

Rents are coming down for one- and two-bedroom apartments in Des Moines, Axios' Sami Sparber reports.

Why it matters: Affordability concerns are starting to weigh down the booming rental market.

By the numbers: In January, the city's median rent price for a one-bedroom apartment was $910, down 6.2% from last month, rentals site Zumper found.

• The median two-bedroom rent dropped 5.9% and now cost $960, per the data.

What's happening: Many would-be home buyers chose to rent longer last year, sustaining apartment demand, economists at Moody's Analytics say. But folks are hitting their spending limit.

• For the first time in over two decades, households now have to spend 30% of their income on average rents.

Year-over-year rent growth slowed in the second half of the year across the board, "and we expect further deceleration as new supply makes it to market at the same time the labor market softens," senior economist at Moody's Lu Chen tells Axios.

Zoom out: Rents are already falling in cities that were near the epicenter of the pandemic home-price boom, Axios' Matt Phillips reports.

What we're watching: New apartment construction. The expected surge in supply could help bring down prices.

Yes, but: Experts tell the Wall Street Journal that most cities will "remain undersupplied with the kind of affordable units that see the highest demand."

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🐶 Iowa's dog breeders had the worst record of compliance with federal regulations in 2022, accounting for 36% of all violations cited nationally. (Iowa Capital Dispatch)

📚 Parents spoke at a hearing before lawmakers Monday about their experiences trying to remove or limit explicit books from schools or curriculums. (WHO-13)

🚜 A Republican lawmaker concerned about proposed pipeline projects says Iowa's current regulatory process is unfair to landowners — but he's unsure if his party will act. (Radio Iowa)

🎨 The DSM Art Center named Kelly Baum, the current curator of contemporary art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, as its new director. (DSM Magazine)

Hoyt Sherman Place unveiled plans last month for a permanent $500K outdoor stage for concerts and community events.

• Axios DSM reader John Bradley noted how resident complaints at Lauridsen Amphitheater in Water Works Parks preceded a noise ordinance adopted in 2021.

Question: Have there been noise reviews?

• "I would hate for Hoyt Sherman to add a benefit to the community and have some old fuddy-duddies get in a huff," Bradley said.

Answer: Hoyt Sherman Place believes the project will meet city noise restrictions, CEO Robert Warren tells Axios.

• It has hosted outside "Jazz in July" concerts for three years without complaints and its events will end earlier than those at Water Works, he says.

Of note: Hoyt Sherman's neighbors include homes, apartments and the Methodist Medical Center.

Zoom in: Hoyt Sherman is a few blocks outside the downtown area set in 2021.

Yes, but: Other sound limits apply.

🙊 Our thought bubble: Fuddy-duddies just need a good, hard … hug.