The number of renter households in the U.S. grew three times faster than the number of homeowner households in 2Q 2024, driven by the increasing disparity between rent payments and the rising cost of mortgages.

"The median apartment asking rent increased less than 1% year over year in June, while the median monthly mortgage payment jumped roughly 5%," according to a new Redfin analysis of Census Bureau data. "Asking rents were 23% above pre-pandemic (June 2019) levels, while mortgage payments were 90% above pre-pandemic levels." Homeownership grew just 0.6% in the quarter to a record 86.3 million, and at the slowest pace since 2019.

Growth in the number of renter households hit a peak of 2.8% in the first quarter of 2024. In the second quarter, the number of renter households grew 1.9% year over year to reach a record 45.2 million, with 855,000 added just in the past year. June's $1,654 median U.S. asking rent was the highest since October 2022, only $46 below the all-time high and still beyond the reach of many.