Market update June 2024: Another seasonal uptick

Just like the temperature, the rental market is heating up with prices on the rise again.

The housing supply shortage is contributing to the high home and rent prices, and slow housing starts mean that it is likely to continue.

• The national median list price continued to increase seasonally from $430,000 in April to $442,500 in May, according to Realtor.com.

• The number of newly listed homes remained virtually unchanged month over month, going from 432,028 in April to 432,140 in May. The site also reports a 6.2% increase year over year.

• The national median rents for both one and two-bedrooms increased 1.2% this May to $1,504 and $1,865 respectively, according to Zumper. This is the first time monthly growth rates have topped 1% in 20 months.

• “This notable rise in rent coupled with the current persisting inflation suggests that there will be even more pressure put on the CPI in the coming months and rate cuts by the Fed may be pushed back further than previously anticipated,” says Zumper CEO Anthemos Georgiades.

• 64 of Zumper’s top 100 cities saw an increase in rental prices from the previous month, while 25 fell and 11 reported no change.

• NAHB Chairman Carl Harris says that “persistently high mortgage rates are keeping many prospective buyers on the sidelines,” resulting in a two-point drop in builder confidence to 43 in June, reports The National Association of Home Builders. This is the lowest reading since December 2023.

• Single‐family housing starts in May reached 982,000 – 5.2% below the revised April figure of 1,036,000.

More rental market headlines

HUD issues Fair Housing Act guidance on AI use – Multifamily Executive

US to cap rent raise for some affordable housing units – Reuters

Rental property manager expands, looking to serve ‘accidental’ single-family landlords – CoStar