Asking prices were up for the seventh straight month in the Trulia Price Monitor, and though rents also rose in the Rent Monitor, home prices seem to be catching up.

Asking prices on real estate website Trulia rose 2.3 percent year-over-year in the latest Trulia Price Monitor, according to a news release from the website.

That increase marks the seventh straight month of asking price increases on Trulia, and excluding foreclosures, the increase was an even more pronounced 3.8 percent.

Trulia Price Monitor – “Housing Recovery Milestones”

As Trulia Chief Economist Jed Kolko explained, there were two “housing recovery milestones” related to the findings in the Price Monitor:

• First, this is the fastest rise for asking prices than at any time since the recession began.
• Second, excluding foreclosures, asking prices are now rising faster than wages, a development that will impact the long-running trend of greater and greater housing affordability.
• With housing affordability decreasing and price gains increasing, Kolko predicts housing may lose its competitive edge with renting, which had been steadily growing in cost the last year.
• Other details in the Trulia Price Monitor included: from July to August, asking prices increased by 0.8 percent, and excluding foreclosures, they were up 0.7 percent; quarter-over-quarter, asking prices were up 1.8 percent, and excluding foreclosures, they were up 2.2 percent.

Trulia Rent Monitor – Increasing Slower

In addition to its Price Monitor, Trulia also monitors national rents with its Trulia Rent Monitor, and it found that rents increased 4.7 percent from last year in August. That’s down from a 5.8 percent yearly jump in May and the slowest rise since March.

Increased activity in the new construction market, Kolko said, has given some relief to some of the nation’s hottest rental markets, but event though the rises in rents have tapered off somewhat, rents are still increasing.

“Rents had been on fire earlier this year, but some of the hottest rental markets are starting to cool,” Kolko said. “New construction that started last year is finally coming onto the market, giving renters more choices and some relief from rising rents. Still, rents are climbing in nearly all of the major rental markets.”