1. Rents Increase Over Time
Produced by NAR Research
November 11, 2010

2. Produced by NAR Research
Rents Increase Over Time
According to the Consumer Price Index tracked by the Bureau of Labor and
Statistics (BLS), prices for the rent of a primary residence have increased at an
average rate of a little more than 3 percent for the last ten years. The table above
shows monthly, annual, and total rent over ten years assuming a 3 percent annual
increase.
By contrast, a home buyer who locks in a thirty‐year mortgage will have fixed
mortgage payments. Buyers locking in a mortgage rate now have fixed payments at
record low rates.
Of course, an average increase indicates what’s typical, but not every year will be
typical. In 2009, when the prices of all items decreased by 0.4 percent, prices for
the rent of a primary residence increased 2.3 percent across the US. The typical
increase in all prices over the last ten years was 2.5 percent.
2010 looks to be another atypical year. All prices in the year ending September 2010
were up 1.1 percent while the price of rents in the same period rose 0.2 percent.
Consumer Price Inflation data is released by the BLS every month near the middle
of the month. NAR tracks this and other inflations series in Inflation Watch,
posted on Facebook.