Yellen: Housing Prices Went Up Due to Pandemic Changes

On Wednesday’s broadcast of CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that housing and rental prices went up due to changes in living and working during the pandemic and that “If you’re in the middle of a rental contract and it renews, you’re likely to see the rent adjust up to current market levels, and that’s a big expense, and people feel that.”

Yellen stated that apartment rent prices have “stopped going up, but we did have very big changes in the way people live and work during the pandemic, and I think it gave rise to pressures on real estate prices, both rentals and house prices went up. So, young people who aspire to own a home who are renting, they’re seeing their monthly rent go up. Although, new rental prices have stabilized. If you’re in the middle of a rental contract and it renews, you’re likely to see the rent adjust up to current market levels, and that’s a big expense, and people feel that. But I think we’re in a path — and some important prices — gas prices are now way down, a number of states where it’s — a gallon is running at under $3 a gallon, which is great news for consumers. We saw egg prices utterly skyrocket, mainly because of the avian flu. They’ve come down back toward pre-pandemic levels. But still [elevated].”

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