Birmingham rentals are climbing in popularity in a nationwide comparison, according to a recent study published by online apartment listing service RentCafe using their own website data from apartment searches.

Between May and June Birmingham rentals rose 12 places in RentCafe’s popularity ranking of the 150 most populous cities in the U.S., placing them at #28 in the list.

This could spell out increased rent prices and rental shortages for future Birmingham buyers, according to Bennie Waller, a William Cary Hulsey faculty fellow in the Culverhouse College of Business at The University of Alabama.

“Fewer folks have the ability to buy due to housing supply and increasing interest rates,” Waller said. “Many homeowners that are being forced to sell because of life circumstances, are choosing to rent (versus buying another house) because they cannot get the same utility as they had as a result of interest rates doubling over the last 18 months. The continuing rise in rents suggests that supply is getting tighter, that is fewer rental choices.”

While Birmingham’s rent prices have remained lower than most other large U.S. cities, Waller said, they have not been immune to inflation.