The compression in housing availability during a period of improving economic growth and sustained
housing demand drove another year of rental rate and home price growth.
- Housing vacancy rates fell to 3.4%, a multi-decade low and one-third below the 2009 peak.1
- For-sale inventory of existing homes fell 7% Y/Y, while months’ supply fell 9% Y/Y. The number of
homes for sale relative to the size of the U.S. housing stock has never been lower in the 35-year history
of the data series.2 - Due to tight supply conditions, single-family home prices rose approximately 6% in 2017, an
appreciable acceleration from 2016’s 5-5.5% increase.3
