Quest: The Slow Rent

Juno: shelter rose 3.2% in the year to September, slower than the 3.7% headline! Mochi: rent itself rose 0.2% in the month. Queen Honeycomb: the index counts every tenant, old leases too, so it lags. The Rust Baron: my rent never falls, doom! Mochi: one tracker says asking rents fell 0.4% over the year. Tock: 3.2%! Juno: paper rent runs behind real rent, and shelter is the biggest piece of the CPI.

Shelter, the biggest piece of the CPI, rose 3.2% over the year to September, slower than the 3.7% headline, and the rent inside it is cooler still: rent of primary residence rose 0.2% in the month, and because the index counts every tenant's rent, including old leases, it lags the market, where one private tracker puts rents down 0.4% from a year earlier.

Starring

JunoMochiQueen HoneycombThe Rust BaronTock