Rents prices followed a similar trajectory in the second quarter, with the average monthly payment for an apartment rising 9.4 percent in the three-month period ended June 30, year over year, according to the real estate data firm CoStar, cited by the Wall Street Journal. That compares with the more than 11 percent increases recorded in the preceding two quarters.
The cooling housing market reflects a weakness in the broader economy as would-be home buyers find themselves unable or unwilling to rise inflation, which stands at a 40-year high.
Mortgage rates have been steadily climbing since the Federal Reserve started raising its benchmark interest rates in March, part of its plan to put a lid on soaring costs by making borrowing more expensive. That has significantly increased the monthly payment a home buyer would pay for a given property, making everything less affordable. At the same time, a battered stock market has chipped away at many home buyers’ resources, making it hard to save for a down payment.
This is a developing story and will be updated.