Housing Costs and Rent Demand Drive Inflation and Rental Crisis.

Housing costs, particularly rent prices, were the largest contributor to the March Consumer Price Index (CPI), according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The shelter component of the CPI rose 0.6% over the last month, with shelter climbing 8.2% on a yearly basis. Real-time data from RealPage showed that apartment demand has rebounded back into positive territory this year, but less quickly than supply. Fed officials and economists have expected housing inflation to moderate this year, but more slowly than private data suggests.