TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — In a two-year period of historic negative after historic negative, the latest record broken is not inflation but decrease in available housing inventory. Zillow’s latest monthly report showed the number of homes available for sale in the U.S. had dropped 40.5%, as of December. Prices for homes to buy and rent have only gone up.

In the past year, housing inventory nationally has decreased 19.5% from December 2020 to December 2021. Month-over-month, the U.S. housing inventory shrunk 11.1%. For Tampa’s housing market, the inventory drop year-to-year was worse.

From December 2020 to December 2021, Tampa’s housing inventory decreased 24.7%, a bigger decrease than the national rate. However, the monthly decrease was less severe than the U.S. at large, with just a 7.6% drop. While not as dramatic as the national level, with a much larger yearly decrease and climbing home prices that refuse to take a breath and slow down, month-to-month inventory losses are still a concern, no matter the level.

“Historically short supply met with high demand, causing monthly home price appreciation to accelerate for the first time since July and raising the typical U.S. home value to $320,662, a record 19.6% ($52,000) above last year,” Zillow reported.

Those numbers and prices are more severe in the Tampa metropolitan area. Compared to the pre-COVID-19 pandemic, housing inventory in Tampa is almost 50% lower than December 2019, measuring in at a 46.6% lower level.

The higher home prices and lower inventory accompany an increasingly rising rent, which Zillow said was up 28.6% since the year before. The real estate company reported the typical rent in Tampa was $1,985, the second-highest rent in the top 50 metro areas of the U.S., only behind Miami, Fla.

While U.S. homes are averaging a sell-price of $320,662, Tampa is coming in at $327,618, up 1.7% from November 2021 to December. The company said home listings were staying on market for about a week before “going pending,” meaning an offer from a buyer was accepted. Zillow said home value appreciation, value or price rising, had accelerated for the first time since July 2021.

According to the Zillow data, there were fewer than one million homes available for sale at the start of 2022. In Tampa, just 10,938 homes were reportedly available. Home values in the city were up almost 30% compared to the year before.

While home prices were up, rent has continued to rise, up 28.6% in Tampa.

Along with listing data, the Federal Reserve reported the cost of what’s known as owner’s equivalent rent was up 0.4% in December. The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index showed the cost of Rent of Primary Residence, a data point for residential housing inflation, had risen by 3.3%.

At the same time home values are rising, inventory is continuing to shrink, and rent prices are still growing, even the mortgage interest rates have increased. The average mortgage for a 15-year mortgage is now 2.79% and a 30-year mortgage is now 3.56% for fixed-rate mortgages, according to federally-backed mortgage company Freddie Mac.

Just two weeks ago, the rate had increased to 3.11% for a 30-year mortgage.