Sales fell 2.7%, the National Association of Realtors said. Increasingly pricey homes aren't moving on the market, and construction is struggling to keep up.
Rent prices soared 4.3% year-over-year in March to their highest since 2006, CoreLogic said.
The jump comes as potential homebuyers increasingly move into the rental market instead.
Rent prices are expected to climb over the next year, which could contribute to inflation remaining elevated.
The nationwide shortage of new homes lifted selling prices at their fastest-ever rate earlier this year. Now rent prices are following suit.
The cost of renting a single-family home in the US rose 4.3% year-over-year in March, CoreLogic said in a Tuesday release. That s up from 3% in March 2020 and places rents at their highest level since September 2006.
Phoenix and Tucson led the increase, with prices rising 11.4% and 10.4%, respectively. Atlanta, Las Vegas, and Charlotte followed close behind. Prices for higher-priced homes jumped 5% and drove the bulk of the acceleration. Lower-priced and lower-middle priced homes saw the weakest rent inflation.
Millennials are reaching peak homebuying age as affordability pressures reach a fever pitch.
Falling lumber prices and accelerated construction would slow price inflation, but only somewhat.
Experts see little risk of the housing market s boom turning into a bubble. But that doesn t mean there s no reason to worry.
Housing has served as one of the rare economic hot spots during the coronavirus pandemic. Tumbling mortgage rates boosted demand, which quickly spurred rampant homebuying. The spree quickly snapped up most of the country s available supply, and the record-breaking inventory drought led owners to demand higher and higher prices.
The intensity of the market boom and data tracking it has prompted countless comparisons to the mid-2000s housing bonanza. In many ways, this market resembles the state of play in 2005 and 2006, which was the peak of a previous bubble that burst, to disastrous effect. But a few key differences separate today s market from the one of about 1