The only positive news out of the U.S. economy seems to be coming from the housing market. Indeed, housing starts had a nice increase in spite of a slowdown across most sectors.
Consider The Following:
- According to some analysts, housing starts would have to double to keep up with the demand from long-term U.S. demographics.
- Because of the demographics, rising rents in some areas are encouraging both renters and landlords to buy property, pushing up housing starts.
- Residential (apartment) rents in the U.S. have increased 3.5% YoY, according to Reis. This is considerably higher than the current overall CPI. Rental increases take some six months to feed through the official CPI number. Expect a pop in the CPI (from the rental market as well as rising commodity prices) in the coming months.