US: Rent prices are still climbing, just not as fast as before

Home rental price growth slowed down in January — as even sizzling markets such as the San Francisco Bay Area, Denver and Portland are cooling.
Real estate data firm Zillow said yesterday that median rent rose a seasonally adjusted 2.9 percent from a year ago. The median rent nationwide has held steady at USD1,381 a month since August, after having previously surged dramatically above the pace of wage growth. The slowdown points to two factors: an increase in supply of new apartments and landlords finding that housing costs can only rise so much before they strain renters’ ability to pay.
Rents are now moving closer to the pace of wage gains, with the government reporting earlier this month that average hourly earnings improved 2.5 percent from a year ago to $25.39.
Prices around Silicon Valley have decelerated sharply. Rentals in San Jose, California rose at a high annual rate of 8.34 percent to $3,443. But that’s substantially below the rate of 18.49 percent a year ago. The slowdown comes as tech stocks have shed value this year and funding for start-ups are drying up.
Yet rental price growth has also dipped in metro areas without the same booming economies.
Rental costs increased just 1.17 percent in St. Louis to $1,123. That’s down from the annual growth rate of 2.97 percent in January 2015. A similar deceleration occurred in Charlotte, North Carolina and Indianapolis, among other locales. AP