Increase in US rents beats rise in home values for first time since 2012

San Francisco

ADD one more marker in the timeline of soaring rental costs in the US: They just increased faster than home values for the first time since 2012.

Rents grew 4 per cent in the year ended in April, beating the 3 per cent rise in home values over the same period, according to figures released on Thursday by Seattle-based, property data provider Zillow Group Inc. Rental increases outpaced property values in 20 of the 35 largest US markets last month, with a handful of cities seeing landlord-friendly price growth even longer - since mid-2014. San Francisco's rapidly appreciating apartment costs beat gains in homes values in July, and Boston followed in August.