Rent affordability will deteriorate over next two years: Zillow CEO

[FLPanhandle]

Source: Yahoo Finance

A new report from Zillow shows that rents across the U.S. are increasing, and not just in the expected regions of New York City, San Francisco and Boston. Overall, rents increased 3.3% year-over-year as of January. But many cities outpaced that, including Kansas City, which saw rent grow more than double the national average, jumping 8.5% year-over-year. St. Louis saw rent increase by 4.5% over the same period. Rents in Detroit grew by 5.0% and rents in Cleveland grew by 4.2%.

Nationwide, rental appreciation is still below its peak - 6.3% hit in September 2012 after the housing bust. According to Zillow, monthly rents have grown at roughly twice the pace of wages in the U.S. since 2000. That means Americans are having to spend a greater share of their income on rent - about 30%, versus 25% in the past. And this problem isn't likely to go away anytime soon. Zillow surveyed a number of economists and real estate experts who all said they expected rental affordability to continue to "deteriorate for the next two years."

That will likely impact you even if you're a homeowner, since renting affordability issues tend to impact the broader housing market. Instead of becoming a stepping stone to homeownership, renting has become a barrier. Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff explained the rental market following the housing crisis: "All of a sudden, there were 5 million new renters and the rental stock didn't increase."

Read more: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/rent-affordability-will-deteriorate-over-next-two-years--zillow-ceo-143648411.html

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I think the scary part for renters is "monthly rents have grown at roughly twice the pace of wages in the U.S. since 2000"

Good reason to try and buy a home vs. renting as long as you are staying in your area long enough.

[randys1]

1. Eventually people will simply have to take BACK what has been stolen from them.

Reminds me of how Trump made his money.

Buy properties, use thugs to throw out the old married couples who live there, and resell for a profit.

One day, the 80% of America who can barely pay rent or house payment, will rise up and shit will change big time.

[blkmusclmachine]

3. They'll have to get past Obama's 30,000 armed drones patrolling U.S. neighborhoods, first.

[Dustlawyer]

5. Wall Street went out and bought up all of the cheap distressed properties they helped to put in that

position with the 08 crash! I spoke to a real estate broker in Florida who told me I could have a commission for finding waterfront hotels and marinas for them to buy. He said they were buying up everything that he could find for them.
Pretty good business model if all you cared about was money!

[freshwest]

10. Don't count on it. Surviving keeps people too busy. Having a place to live causes people

to make major concessions. The poor in this situation don't even have the wherewithal to get to the polls, and most of those affected can't riot in the streets. And those who can, won't be doing it for those who can't.

[geek tragedy]

2. Those who tried to scare people away from buying a home after 2009

were doing people a great disservice.

The rent ALWAYS goes up.

[world wide wally]

4. So where is "The Rent Is Too Damn High Party" when you need them?

Whatever happened to that guy?

[freshwest]

6. 2Xs what wages are gaining, 4Xs what SS will pay. Add in 20% cut in 2016 = no place to live.

[StarzGuy]

9. My thoughts exactly...

...since I am one who is 100% disabled (after working for 40 years) and on SSDI. I can tell you that a 20% cut will be devastating for me and I will lose my apartment.

[freshwest]

13. I hear you. And the ripple effect will savage many others in jobs and housing.

[happyslug]

14. I know it is rough, but since you are on SSDI, you may want to move.

Most people do NOT move for their family and friends are where they are at the present time (That is your "Network" and your "Support group&quot . On the other hand, there are places where people can move to and get a cheap place to live if they have the income. Rents in Johnstown Pa are low for the simple reason the Johnstown Metro area has lost population over the last 50 years (Roughly 10% each decade). Thus we have a lot of abandoned homes and a lot of very good homes for tenants. i.e. we have more housing than we have Tenants.

Side note: Johnstown is a great place to live if you have income coming in, but it is terrible place to live if you are looking for work (the mines and Steel Mills are mostly closed down). I mention this only since you are on SSDI. On the other hand I do NOT know how far away from your support group (i.e. your family) is from Johnstown. If your family is to far away, you may be better off staying where you are. More expensive homes are in the suburbs of Westmont and Richland township Westmont was the main suburb from the 1890s till WWII (Westmont was built when the Johnstown Steel Company wanted his workers to feel that their families would be safe after the Johnstown Flood, so he build an incline plane to the top of the Mountain and started Westmont. In the 1930s the states built a highway up that mountain side and westmont expanded even more. Richland took took off in the 1960s when Pennsylvania built US 219 into a limited access highway right through Richland township, from the Pennsylvania Turnpike to US 22 (With an off shoot to Johnstown known as the PA 56 bypass).

I have been looking at this home, I would have to make it into one family house, but presently it is five apartments, all for $89,000 (An old mansion turned into apartments):



http://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/Johnstown-PA/pmf,pf_pt/2104169866_zpid/39173_rid/pricea_sort/40.511711,-78.792229,40.211916,-79.227562_rect/10_zm/

Here is another one I like, but at $265,000 out of my price range:



http://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/Johnstown-PA/pmf,pf_pt/2119247511_zpid/39173_rid/pricea_sort/40.511711,-78.792229,40.211916,-79.227562_rect/10_zm/

Johnstown has some small and cheaper homes, here is one for $6000. That is $6000 TOTAL price:



http://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/Johnstown-PA/pmf,pf_pt/2103728174_zpid/39173_rid/pricea_sort/40.511711,-78.792229,40.211916,-79.227562_rect/10_zm/6_p/

Just a comment that maybe moving is something you should look into, but remember talk to your support group i.e. your family first.

You got me looking at real estate.

[PSPS]

7. The shocking reality of this

Where I live, new apartment buildings are popping up like mushrooms. Nevertheless, rents continue to skyrocket. Friends of mine who rent are being priced out of the apartments they've lived in for many years.

The fact that rents can go up is because there is a demand there. Apartment buildings don't raise rents unless they're full. Yet, as people are priced out of their modest apartments, there is no shortage of people ready and willing to move in. So there are enough people making enough money to keep these places full.

The bottom line is that we're seeing what happens when a society has a large, growing and permanent underclass. This ties in to the fact that the media and politicians continue to define "middle class" as having incomes "up to $250K per year." That's a joke when the median income in the country is about $50K per year.

Where I live, the latest thing is "micro apartments" or "a-pod-ments." These are really 12' x 12' sleeping rooms with an entire floor sharing a kitchen and, in many cases, a bathroom. Modern-day tenements, really. Even these rent for almost $1,000 per month. If a developer builds one of these, they don't have to pay any property tax because it "makes housing affordable." I suppose it is a step up from living on the street or in a car, but it's pretty obvious that we're headed in the direction of Reagan's dream: Comfortable accommodations for the few, cardboard for the rest.

[SheilaT]

8. This is exactly why I have preferred to own

when I can. A lot of people were surprised that when I moved to a new city at age 60 I bought a place.

My next place eventually will be a condo of some kind so that I can get out from under any sort of yardwork and aspects of maintenance.

[ReRe]

11. When was it that TPTB stopped preaching...

... PROGRESS? Maybe around/just after NAFTA-time? I have learned over the past 20 years that their "Progress" is the underdevelopment of this country.
This news is just another sign of our digression as a society.

[silverweb]

12. According to plan.

[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]I believe that this is what W actually meant when he was touting his doublespeak about an "ownership society."

Greedy bastards.

[LiberalElite]

15. A good friend of mine likes to say

"There's no such thing as a poor landlord."

[happyslug]

16. He is wrong, right now I am making more money then my landlord

And that has been the case with all my landlords over the last 20 years. One even had to spend time on the "County Work Crew" to pay off fines due to failing to pay child support. My present one is a little better then my previous landlord, he is at least above water, but given rents in Johnstown barely making anything on his rental units. Housing is so cheap in Johnstown and so hard to sell I have refused to buy. I do NOT need to own a piece of property no one will even buy for non-payment of taxes (a big problem in Johnstown, people just walk away from their homes, they jobs are elsewhere and they can not maintain the house in Johnstown and sooner or later they just abandon them, they stop even paying the taxes on them). I know one person who use to own a bar in Johnstown with a nice size side room doe parties. It has been up for taxes for about six years and the mortgage had not been paid in over 10. The bank has REFUSED to foreclose, they do not even want it.

[PasadenaTrudy]

17. That's bullshit n/t

[LiberalElite]

18. It's her opinion as a result of being a renter

for 50 years in NYC. Until you've walked a mile in her moccasins....