In our Spotlight on Business report.

Rent prices just won't let up.

Multiple national real estate reports show the Northeast has seen the largest regional increase in rent costs in the country.

Now that includes six North Jersey counties where the median rent will run to more than $2800 a month.

Housing advocates have some ideas about how to fix it.

But are lawmakers listening?

Senior correspondent Joanna Gagis reports.

The number one reason we have high prices in New Jersey is because of lack of supply.

The high cost of living in New Jersey was top of mind for the Assembly Housing Committee that heard testimony from a range of experts on how to address skyrocketing rent costs in the state.

Housing costs have reached an all time high in the U.S. last year.

It is no secret the housing market follows the supply and demand mechanism.

When housing supply goes down, buyers have fewer homes to choose from and sellers have more power.

And we see housing prices go up.

Linlin Liang from the Pew Charitable Trust, also addressed the lack of development that's led to a shortage in supply over the last two decades.

We see a big dip from 2009 to 2011, which created a great shortfall.

And frankly, we haven't dug out of it.

This is New Jersey's housing inventory today.

It is less than half of what it was back in 2018.

At the same time, on the rise of the slide, you'll be able to see the median home cost in New Jersey has risen 46% in the past four years, since the pandemic.

Some testimony addressed the underlying causes for those drastic rate increases.

For the past five years, everything that goes into operating, maintaining and improving a building has gone up in price.

That includes labor, utility costs, material costs, insurance costs and property taxes.

They argue those costs make it challenging for developers to build in the state as well as landlords to maintain their affordable properties.

Some testified about streamlining permitting in the state to ease the process.

But despite the challenges faced by landlords and developers, advocates say it's the working poor who bear the burden.

In 2021, renter households making less than $30,000 a year had an average of $380 left over each month after paying rent.

That's $380 for food, clothing, transportation, everything else you can think of.

Carl Gershenson from the eviction lab at Princeton University says 80 to 90% of evictions are caused by missed rent.

As the Labs research shows, evictions are not just a consequence of poverty.

They are a cause of poverty.

They are profoundly destabilizing events that can cause households to enter into downward spirals of job loss and homelessness.

New Jersey's well above the national average for evictions, and they disproportionately affect the black community and families with kids.

Yet he also points to research showing that new housing construction keeps rent and surrounding buildings 6% lower.

But rent increases are also an area the legislature was asked to address.

The Anti Eviction Act prohibits rent increases that are unconscionable.

But what percentage or amount increase is unconscionable?

New Jersey law is silent on that.

It is not appropriate standard for a judge to judge a rent increase.

And whether or not is shocking enough, a family should not be shocked at the end of their lease term by a proposed new rent that they cannot afford to renew.

We need better enforcement of rent control laws and clear standards for permissible rent increases.

One of the suggestions today was to find ways that the state can come up with more permanent subsidies to fund affordable housing development, similar to the way the state funds the transportation Trust Fund.

Adding a 4% tax on the sale of homes above $1 million could raise substantial revenue for the state.

This new revenue source could fund vital programs that make a living in raising a family in the state more affordable.

And the impact of this fee would be limited to a small fraction of the housing market.

The committee said it will consider many of the recommendations made as it looks for ways to legislate affordability in the state.

In Trenton, I'm Joanna Gagis NJ Spotlight News.