It's no wonder that so many renters are buying homes in metro Phoenix.
The cost of renting a Valley house or condo is up $150 a month from early 2016.
And despite the thousands of units under construction in the Phoenix area, the average rent for apartments is up almost $50 a month from last year.
And those increases come after even bigger ones in 2015-16.
Real-estate agents often tell me one of the top reasons Millennials are buying now is rising rents.
Also, boomerang buyers — the people who lost houses to foreclosure during the crash — are purchasing again as they try to hedge the Valley’s rising rents.
Apartment rents by Valley city:
Homebuyers in the Valley are also dealing with higher monthly payments.
Metro Phoenix’s median home price is up about 7 percent from last year, to $245,000.
Valley home-price increases did moderate a bit during the past few months, something that could give homebuyers a bit of a breather from rising prices.
Apartment-rent increases in areas with the most new developments — Phoenix, Scottsdale and Tempe — could also wane in the coming months if supply outpaces demand.
But as the weather turns cooler, metro Phoenix’s housing and rental markets always heat up.
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