Portland rents leap

Eco Watch - Home rental prices are climbing across much of the United States – with the biggest gains coming from not from New York or San Francisco but from Portland, Maine, and Jackson, Mississippi.

The real estate data firm Zillow said that prices nationally climbed a seasonally adjusted 4.3 percent in May from a year ago. Rents still are rising at double-digit rates in Denver, San Francisco and San Jose, California, with their job opportunities drawing new residents at a faster pace than construction can match.

But two smaller cities led the gains in May. Houses in the Mississippi capital of Jackson are renting monthly for $1,169, a 22.7 percent yearly increase. On the northeastern end of the United States, rental prices in Portland have shot up 17.4 percent.