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Sympthsical

(8,936 posts)
Mon Apr 18, 2022, 03:41 PM Apr 2022

Good news: Wages increased 4% last year. Reality: Rents increase 17% in past year.

February Highlights

February 2022 marks the seventh month in a row where rent growth has reached double digits for 0-2 bedroom properties (17.1% Y/Y).

Despite a dip in the growth rate, the median rent in the 50 largest metros reached a new high, $1,792.

Studios continue to catch up with faster recent rent growth, but have the slowest growth over the last two years. Rent by size: Studio: $1,474, up 17.1% ($215) year-over-year; 1-bed: $1,648, up 16.4% ($232); 2-bed: $2,002, up 16.2% ($278).

Rents continue to increase the most in the Sun Belt metros, at an average growth rate of 22.5% Y/Y. Miami, FL was the fastest growing market, followed by Orlando, FL; Tampa, FL; Austin, TX; San Diego, CA; Las-Vegas, NV; Phoenix, AZ; Jacksonville, FL; San Antonio, TX; and Memphis, TN.

Affordability

In February 2022, rent was less affordable than the previous year. Renters earning the typical household income devoted 29.7% of their income to lease a typical for-rent home (vs. 24.8% in February 2021).

14 of the top 50 metros had a rent share higher than 30% relative to the median household income. Miami, FL, was the least affordable rental market in February 2022. The median rent for a typical 0-2 bedroom unit in Miami, FL, is twice as high as the estimated maximum affordable rent for the median household.

Kansas City, KS, is the most affordable rental market in Feb 2022. The median rent for a typical 0-2 bedroom unit was 34% lower than its estimated maximum affordable rent.




https://www.realtor.com/research/february-2022-rent/

And that is why touting "Best economy ever. Best wages ever! Stop complaining!" is not hitting average voters as well as is assumed. When your rent is up 17% but your pay is up only 4%, you're not going to count it as one of your better years within that blazing economy.

Reality is a thing that must be grappled with when formulating a strategy to at least break even come November. These numbers are the reality for tens of millions of Americans.

I've seen some variation of, "Why are voters unhappy when wages are doing the best in years?!"

This. This is why. Mix in food and energy prices, and we need better messaging than, "Best economy ever!" Because people are not feeling it.

It is not . . . trickling down.

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Good news: Wages increased 4% last year. Reality: Rents increase 17% in past year. (Original Post) Sympthsical Apr 2022 OP
yeah. i'm one of those people........... Takket Apr 2022 #1
I truly do not understand housing prices. At all. Sympthsical Apr 2022 #2

Takket

(21,425 posts)
1. yeah. i'm one of those people...........
Mon Apr 18, 2022, 04:05 PM
Apr 2022

i rent a one bedroom. i'm 44. my wife is 50 and on disability, so basically we are a one income household, since disability pays very little.

We raised a kid (my step-child).

We went through a lot of problems. unemployment, her medical issues, raising a kid, and frankly just being naive and letting credit card companies take advantage of us...... things finally began to turn around for us, and it took us almost 5 years of paying down to get rid of $50,000 of credit card debt we had accumulated. We are now completely debt free, and it feels like a massive weight on my shoulders has been lifted.

We rent a one bedroom (step-daughter moved out on her own years ago). My rent is about $1500 now, about $100 more than it was last year.. We want to get a small house or condo. And I'm terrified. Properties are scarce and the prices are insane. I cannot afford nearly the same space now I could have if I had moved even two years ago. Add to that that all the monthly expenses have gone up, and I'm getting squeezed two ways: more money for the home, and less money to spend on it. The whole situation perplexes me because the median cost of a home and the median household income are WAY out of whack and I don't understand how that is remotely sustainable, but its been that was for over a year and shows no sign of letting up. It would be like if Target started doubling the cost of TVs and you think "well that won't last, no one is going to pay double when they know it isn't worth that much", but you look around and everyone is buying TVs and you are perplexed by this...

I don't blame Biden, things would be a lot worse without him. The inflation problem is a global one brought on by the pandemic and the sacrifices we had to make to fight it. It would be even worse if we had gone the GOP method of not fighting it at all. But most people don't think like that. They couldn't tell you what law was passed or policy put in place by Biden that caused all this inflation, but despite that they'll tell you it is his doing. The media doesn't help at all.

No one should be surprised voters are not happy. People like me are not alone.

Sympthsical

(8,936 posts)
2. I truly do not understand housing prices. At all.
Mon Apr 18, 2022, 04:17 PM
Apr 2022

I will grant I'm in the Bay Area, so it's all a little bit on the insane side here. But I live fairly far out in North Bay. 28 months ago, my partner and I combined our savings for a down payment on a home because neither of us wanted to rent in the regional market any longer. The prices just kept going up and up and up. So we skedaddled about 45 minutes outside the city to a nice house that was "reasonable" for still being in the Bay Area.

In that time, my salary has increased 5%. He just got a 2.5% raise. Our house? 49% increase in valuation so far.

And houses are still selling where we live. They go up for sale and are gone within a week. People ring doorbells to ask if people are selling. A realtor left scented candles with her card on our porch. We kind of assume Silicon Valley work from home types are fleeing north now that they no longer have to live close to these tech HQs. Even so, no rational person's wages can keep up with the outer suburban market.

I keep wondering where service workers, the poor, the working class are doing in the middle of all this. Overpriced apartments, basically. And they will never get ahead of it.

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