Nationally, Rent is Still Rising, Compounding the Fed’s Recession Woes

Median Rent from ApartmentList.Com

ApartmentList.Com reports Rents 1.3 Percent in June.

Our national index rose by 1.3 percent over the course of June, consistent with last month’s increase. So far this year, rents are growing more slowly than they did in 2021, but faster than they did in the years immediately preceding the pandemic. Over the first half of 2022, rents have increased by a total of 5.4 percent, compared to an increase of 8.8 percent over the same months of 2021. Year-over-year rent growth currently stands at a staggering 14.1 percent, but has been trending down from a peak of 17.8 percent at the start of the year.

Rents are still rising month-over-month but at a declining pace year-over-year. 

National Rent Price, OER, Rent of Primary Residence

Rent data from ApartmentList.Com, chart by Mish

Chart Notes

  • The National Rent Price is from ApartmentList.Com 
  • OER stands for Owners’ Equivalent Rent, the mythical price one would pay to rent one’s own house from oneself, unfurnished and without utilities.
  • Rent of Primary residence is just what it sound like. That number and OER are from the BLS.
  • The National Rent price is as of June, BLS data is as of May.

Apartment List Stated Methodology

  • We calculate growth rates using a same-unit analysis similar to Case-Shiller’s approach, comparing only units for which we observe transactions in multiple time periods to provide an accurate picture of rent growth that controls for compositional changes in the available inventory.
  • We capture repeat transactions – when a single apartment gets rented more than once over time – and check whether the transacted rent price has changed between those transactions
  • Rent estimates reflect prices paid by renters, not list prices for units that remain vacant.

Inflation Pressures in Rent and Energy Compound the Fed’s Recession Woes

The National Rent price reflects year-over-year changes, but in reality, people pay the same amount of rent for 12 months then there is one big price jump 13 months later.

That accounts for the BLS lag.

Year-over-year the trend is lower prices, but that does not help the Fed because of BLS CPI lags.

Percent of CPI 

Rent of Primary Residence and OER combined are over 31 percent of the CPI. 

The price of gas is falling as expected in this corner, but that is not going to help the Fed much in June as the average price was close to $5.00 a gallon.

Given the hefty combined weight of Rent in the CPI, this lagging effect may keep inflation stubbornly high for some time. 

Heaven help the Fed if prices rise year-over-year as much as ApartmentList states.

Recession Has Clearly Started

As noted on July 1, GDPNow Forecast Plunges to -2.1 Percent, a Recession Has Clearly Started

Given inflation pressures and stubbornly high home prices, don’t expect Fed Chair Jerome Powell to put on a white hat and come out blazing with rate cuts and more QE.

This post originated at MishTalk.Com.

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Salmo Trutta
Salmo Trutta
1 year ago
Bernanke bankrupt half the home builders creating a housing shortage. As an example, look what
caused the fall in housing prices, the GFC. M1 NSA money stock peaked on
12/2004 @ 1467.7. It didn’t exceed that # until 4/2008 @ 1514.2.

Dec. 2004’s money #s weren’t exceeded for 4
years. That is the most contractive money policy since the Great Depression.
But that’s not how you measure it. The lag for money flows, the proxy for
inflation, is 24-months.
As soon as Bernanke was appointed to the
Chairman of the Federal Reserve, he immediately initiated, his first
“contractionary” money policy for 29 contiguous months (coinciding
both with the end of the housing bubble, and the peak in the Case-Shiller’s
National Housing Index in the 2nd qtr. of 2006 @ 189.93), or at first,
sufficient to wring inflation out of the economy, but persisting until the
economy plunged into an economic wide depression). I.e., the drop in housing
prices coincided with the monetary lag.
For > a 2 year period, RoC’s in M*Vt (using
required reserves which are driven by payments), proxy for inflation (for
speculative assets), were NEGATIVE (less than zero!).*
Mish
Mish
1 year ago
Reply to  Salmo Trutta
Are you on Twitter?
8dots
8dots
1 year ago
Price/ Income and Price/ Rent matter.
Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett
1 year ago
“Given the hefty combined weight of Rent in the CPI, this lagging effect may keep inflation stubbornly high for some time.”
Compounding the problem for Federal Reserve …
… I expect some (many?) landlords are loathe to cut rent, so to entice renters will offer a month (or two) of free rent to sign lease (or extend). The headline number stays the same, but renters will get a break (that leaves Federal Reserve unaware).
Jojo
Jojo
1 year ago
San Francisco has become so expensive that you need a net worth of $1.7 million to be ‘financially comfortable,’ survey says
July 4, 2022
• You need a net worth of $1.7 million to be ‘financially comfortable’ in San Francisco, locals say.
• San Francisco’s threshold is the highest of any US city, according to a Charles Schwab survey.
• To be considered ‘wealthy’ by Bay Area standards, you need a net worth of at least $5.1 million.
….
TexasTim65
TexasTim65
1 year ago
Reply to  Jojo
There is a classic sign on Fisherman’s Wharf that says:
‘You don’t need to be in the “3 comma club” to own property here.’
I laughed so hard when I saw it in 2019. Imagine having to put out a sign that says you don’t have to be a billionaire in order to convince people that buying is possible in San Fran.
Lisa_Hooker
Lisa_Hooker
1 year ago
Reply to  Jojo
Net worth has little to do with being financially comfortable in San Francisco.
Very, very large positive monthly cash flow brings comfort.
worleyeoe
worleyeoe
1 year ago
When you spend almost two years extending rent & mortgage forbearance, this is what you get, an out of whack rental market. I’m sure there several important factors as well, including landlords knowing full well that 50% of the country can’t afford to buy a house. So, they’re stuck with renting. And, let’s be honest, politics aside, how much rent pressure is there from undocumented immigrants. It’s been revealed by the CBP that there were at least 440K known got aways during the current FY which still has 3 months to go. And, that’s on top of the 1.5M that have been apprehended in the last 12 months, resulting mostly in catch & release. Again, politics aside, this isn’t something that’s going to relieve pressure on an already strained rental market, especially at the lower end which hurts lower income families due to the increased job & housing competition. This week’s job numbers and next week’s June CPI initial reading will be very important as will be the next 6 months or so.
JackWebb
JackWebb
1 year ago
Reply to  worleyeoe
It will be quite interesting to see what Democratic “progressives” say about illegal immigrants when the Latino vote turns against them. If there’s one thing we know, it’s that “progressives” have no principles. They’ll do a 180 on Latinos so fast that you’ll break your neck turning to watch them go the other way.
Jackula
Jackula
1 year ago
Reply to  JackWebb
If the Latinos ever get out and votes in any serious numbers it sure as h#!! isn’t gonna be for Democrats, they are social conservatives. I run into them all the time on the airplane from LA, Cali to Boise, Idaho moving to an area with their kids where they can stand the school district’s politics.
TexasTim65
TexasTim65
1 year ago
Reply to  Jackula
Absolutely correct.
A) 99.9% are Catholic and check the Popes response to Roe vs Wade. They ain’t gonna vote for abortion.
B) Most Latinos do not like Blacks and don’t want to identify with them at all (strong family values as you mentioned vs single momma culture) so they don’t care about or want to vote for anything to do with BLM.
C) The Latino culture is a macho one and in it, there is no place for Wokeism or LGBTQ etc. Hence why they are moving to better school districts.
D) Most Latino’s I know are very hard working. The stereotype of lazy Mexican is just that. All the ones I know bust their butt in the Florida sun doing manual labor for cash because they can get ahead or send it back home. I don’t really see many on welfare at all.
TechLover1
TechLover1
1 year ago
Mish: You say the following but I believe it is not accurate
Year-over-year rent prices are falling, but that does not help the Fed because of BLS CPI lags.
YoY rents are still increasing albeit at a slower pace than last year’s increases.
JackWebb
JackWebb
1 year ago
Reply to  TechLover1
I am rapidly warming up to the idea that housing inflation measurement is a joke.
worleyeoe
worleyeoe
1 year ago
Reply to  JackWebb
OER is a joke! It’s a survey for crying out load. Here’s a nice history lesson from WH.gov
“Prior to 1983, however, BLS calculated CPI: Shelter based on housing prices, mortgage rates, property taxes and insurance, and maintenance costs. This approach captured elements of both the service flow—the consumption of housing services—and asset investment aspects of housing expenditures.”
Mish
Mish
1 year ago
Reply to  TechLover1
Thanks
worleyeoe
worleyeoe
1 year ago
Reply to  TechLover1
According to Wolf Richter, the BLS started using actual rental prices in their calculation of rent earlier this year. He says it’s lagging, of course, and will take a full year to have its full effect on CPI. His graphs show rent prices accelerating after the change in measurement method.
TechLover1
TechLover1
1 year ago
I believe rents will increase but nowhere near what apartmentlist indicates. This is because a vast majority of tenants renew their leases and their rents don’t go up as much as new listing rents.
As a recession starts (or has already started per Mish), rent increases will moderate quite a bit as demand will decrease like it does in every recession. Rents may actually go down as well if the recession is severe enough.
All in all, FED will get the moderation in inflation that it seeks (likely quite soon) but it may overshoot the rate by that point causing a recession. How severe the recession will be depending on how quickly they start cutting rates and what is done by Congress in terms of fiscal stimulus.
There may be another set of fiscal stimulus if recession is sever or long enough and COVID surges again in the fall/winter later this year.
TexasTim65
TexasTim65
1 year ago
Reply to  TechLover1
No way, no how will there be another stimulus this fall. Absolutely nothing is going to happen going into the midterms and if as expected the Republicans capture either the house or senate then there will be no incentive to give Biden more stimmy money.
The Fed is hell bent on reining in inflation so that’s the primary focus no matter what the cost in terms of jobs.
Jojo
Jojo
1 year ago
Reply to  TexasTim65
Governor Newsom and the Dem controlled Legislature will be doling out money to CA taxpayers who makes $250k/$500k or less (single/couple) if you filed a tax return. $350 is the kickback number if you show less than $75k income. Many low income people in CA do not need to file a tax return, so are ineligible to receive this payment. Huh? They are the ones who need the money, not someone with $250k of taxable income!
———-
California 2022 stimulus: Who’s eligible for inflation relief payments and when they’ll arrive
July 2, 2022
Mish
Mish
1 year ago
Reply to  TechLover1
“I believe rents will increase but nowhere near what apartmentlist indicates.”
Inclined to agree but note that ApartmentList uses Case-Shiller metrics, rent of same or similar unit in same apartment.
Also it’s weighted.
So …. ???
What I expect is my two dotted lines to merge somewhere and then the BLS lines move lower.
As I said, heaven help the Fed if A-L is correct.

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