US home rents increased in March

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

Americans paid more to rent homes last month, but broader measures suggest that the surging increases of prior years have moderated in much of the country.

Real estate data firm Zillow said Friday that the median U.S. monthly rent rose a seasonally adjusted 2.6 percent in March from a year ago to $1,389. That was slightly more than the year-over-year increase of 2.5 percent in February.

Prices ticked up slightly last month in the Los Angeles, Boston, Phoenix and Portland, Ore., metro areas. Rents fell in Cleveland, Memphis and Oklahoma City.

After sharp increases in 2014 and much of last year, rents cooled between August and February as stepped-up construction put more apartments on the market. For all of 2015, finished construction of multifamily buildings soared 21 percent, according to the Commerce Department.

Until recently, rents had been steadily rising at more than double the pace of wages. But rental increases are now almost identical to the 2.3 percent yearly increase in average hourly earnings tracked by the Labor Department.