by Calculated Risk on 9/13/2012 08:49:00 PM

First, Tom Lawler has been discussing the rental demand for single family homes. He sent me this article today: Phoenix-area rental homes a red-hot commodity

In the Valley’s most popular communities, desperate renters are submitting applications for multiple single-family homes to secure a place to live. ... The unprecedented demand for rentals is fueled by former homeowners whose houses were foreclosed on or sold in short sales and now need a place to live. Some of them can no longer qualify to buy a home. For others, the housing bubble sullied the aura of owning a home.

With the trend showing no sign of slowing, more investors than ever are buying homes to rent. Popular areas such as central and north Phoenix, south Scottsdale, Glendale, central Tempe, Chandler and Gilbert are hot spots for rentals.

Multiple indicators show demand for rentals has never been higher:

More rental contracts were signed in June and July than in any other months in the past decade, according to the Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service.

The percentage of single-family homes purchased to be rented out hit a record 32 percent in July, more than triple the typical rate, said Mike Orr, a real-estate analyst at Arizona State University.

In July, the average rental home was empty for only 38 days, tied for the shortest period in 12 years, Orr said.

The vacancy rate for big apartment complexes recently hit an almost six-year low as of June 30, according to commercial broker Marcus & Millichap.

“It’s a crazy rental market right now,” said Liza Asbury of Realty One Group. “There are multiple offers for properties. If it (the home) is nice, it is definitely going fast.”

On Friday:
• At 8:30 AM ET, the Consumer Price Index for August will be released. The consensus is for CPI to increase 0.6% in August and for core CPI to increase 0.2%.

• Also at 8:30 AM, Retail Sales for August will be released. The consensus is for retail sales to increase 0.8% in August, and for retail sales ex-autos to increase 0.7%.

• At 9:15 AM, The Fed will release Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization for August. The consensus is that Industrial Production declined 0.1% in August, and that Capacity Utilization declined to 79.2%.

• At 9:55 AM, the Reuters/University of Michigan's Consumer sentiment index will be released (preliminary for September). The consensus is for sentiment to decrease to 74.0 from 73.5 in August.

• At 10:00 AM, the Manufacturing and Trade: Inventories and Sales report for July (Business inventories) will be released. The consensus is for 0.5% increase in inventories.

Two more questions for the September economic prediction contest: