U.S. Food Inflation, Percent (Annualized) October 2021–October 2024 (Sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics; Trading Economics)
Housing and Shelter In 2024 shelter (which includes housing and rent) has been a leading contributor to inflation. Shelter comprises approximately one-third of the Consumer Price Index, and shelter prices rose 4.9% for the 12 months ended October 2024. Housing prices began skyrocketing in the first quarter of 2020 as home listings (inventory) shrank to historically low levels. The quarterly median sales price of houses sold between the first quarter of 2020 through the fourth quarter of 2022 increased approximately 46%, nearly matching the 47% price increase that occurred over the entire last decade. The main driver causing housing prices to increase significantly was the lack of inventory, which declined significantly in 2020 and has generally remained relatively low. The chart below shows the housing inventory (number of listings) and the median sales price for houses since January 2017. The housing inventory is indicated by the blue line (left axis); the median sales price of houses sold is indicated by the red line (right axis). The significant drop in housing inventory contributed to rising housing prices since 2020. The decline in housing inventory, combined with rising interest rates, made home buying extremely challenging.
Housing Inventory, Number of Active Listings (blue line, left axis) Median Sales Prices of Houses Sold (red line, right axis) (Sources: Census, HUD, Realtor.com through Federal Reserve Economic Database (FRED))
Central Wisconsin Report - Fall 2024
9
Made with FlippingBook Learn more on our blog