The housing market is unlikely to make the Fed’s job easier any time soon

With positive data on the health of the job market recently raising hopes for a soft landing, the Federal Reserve’s fight to tamp down on the last leg of inflation has come into focus. Yet one persistent challenge has been housing costs, with year-over-year increases in the shelter component of the Consumer Price Index rising at 4.9%, essentially double the pace of headline inflation, as of the most recent September reading.