The price of rent is giving the cost for a gallon of gasoline a run for its money in what's startling American consumers these days.
The median monthly asking rent in the US exceeded $2,000 for the first time in May, rising 15% year over year to a record high of $2,002, according to real estate brokerage Redfin.
Optimists will say that growth rate is smaller than March's (17 percent) while pessimists will note that it repeats April's annual increase.
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Last week, GlobeSt reported numbers from four other rent-tracker analyst firms that indicated record growth in nearly every market.
Growth Should 'Continue to Slow' but 'Remain High'
Redfin deputy chief economist Taylor Marr said in a prepared statement that more people are opting to live alone, and rising mortgage-interest rates are forcing would-be homebuyers to keep renting.
"Although we expect rent-price growth to continue to slow in the coming months, it will likely remain high, causing ongoing affordability issues for renters," Marr added.
Austin, Nashville, Seattle and Cincinnati all had their average rents up 30% annually—with Austin surging 48% year over year.
Portland's rent growth slipped below 30% for the first time this year and sits at 24%.
The only three markets among the 50 most populous metro areas to see rents fall in May from a year earlier were Milwaukee, Kansas City, and Minneapolis.
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