National median asking rent price up 14% year over year.

Asking rents hit another high in July, a new report from Redfin found, with the national median asking rent price up 14% year over year to $2,032. The annual increase was the smallest posted since November, compared with a revised 15% in June and 16% in May. On a monthly basis, the median rent only inched up 0.6% – the slowest growth since February. Asking rents have risen more than 30% in some of the 50 largest markets and they will continue to increase in markets with strong job growth and limited housing construction. “With the sharp rise in mortgage rates from the beginning of this year, we have seen home sales come down," National Association of Realtors Chief Economist, Lawrence Yun, told Yahoo Finance Live. 

Decades worth of under-building have pushed inventory levels near record lows, both for for-sale homes as well as rental units. The supply of homes for sale increased 27% at the start of September compared with a year ago, Realtor.com data showed. Still, active inventory of for-sale homes remained 43% lower than it was in 2019. The lack of inventory has kept home prices high and out of reach for some buyers struggling to enter the market. “We had a housing shortage before the pandemic” Yun said, “...and then it worsened during the pandemic as people went rampant in terms of purchasing properties.” Sidelined buyers have had no other choice but to rent. The problem? Rent prices have been skyrocketing as well, as landlords capitalize on the growth in demand. 

Source: Yahoo Money