Limited supply and strong demand pushed the average rent price growth to increase 4 percent in December from the year before. MarketWatch reports that this is the largest yearly gain since December 2007.
Some markets have had higher rent surges than others. Sacramento and Stockton, Calif., and Colorado Springs, Colo., all had double-digit rent price increases over the last year. Rents in Detroit, Mesa, Ariz., and Long Beach, Calif., rose more than 9 percent over the course of 2016.
When the housing bubble popped, homebuilders retrenched. That means there’s been less housing inventory – both to buy and to rent – than in past periods. The housing recovery has been uneven around the country, and in some places owners are still underwater, making it hard for them to move and gumming up mobility throughout the market.
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