The pressure on rentals has potential to become MUCH worse too if the interest rates start pushing people out of their current owned homes.

I'm a home owner. I am looking at a mortgage renewal in about 18 months. At the current interest rates I'm facing a painful mortgage payment hike. Can I manage it without extending my amortization period? Yes... painful, but yes. I can absorb the increase because I intentionally bought in a (at the time) marginally lower COL area at less than 50% of what I qualified for. Most people I know who bought around the same time went right to the max and they are screwed at renewal if rates don't drop by a substantial amount. In some cases they will be forced into extending their mortgages well beyond 30 years or forced to sell... if they sell, they have to live somewhere... they will transition to renting...