The rent may seem high in Seattle, but report shows it could be much worse

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Rents in Seattle may seem high, but it looks like the number of people in the city who spend more than half their income on rent is dropping.

That's according to data parsed by Seattle Times number cruncher Gene Balk, who found that at 20 percent, Seattle has the lowest percentage of people who spend half their salaries on rent of all the major U.S. cities. That still may seem like a lot, but compare that to Detroit, where more than 43 percent of people are spending half their salaries on rent, and things look a bit better.

Balk also found that despite significant growth in the number of renters in Seattle, up 29,000 since 2005, the number of people paying half their income in rent declined by 2,000.

It's an interesting finding, considering reports that the minimum wage needed to afford a median-priced rental home in Seattle is $44 a hour, according to Zillow.

-more-

http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/morning_call/2015/05/the-rent-may-seem-high-in-seattle-but-report-shows.html?ana=e_sea_rdup&s=newsletter&ed=2015-05-07&u=ColXVN5SPzQtLHFP87ho2w07857290&t=1431016108

[montanacowboy]

1. That is so much crap

In fact it is getting much worse! The real estate market is so red hot houses are barely on the market for 1 day and offers pour in. This makes the rental market much hotter as there are less properties available for rent. I have never seen the market so crazy here in 25 years. I have owned homes in different areas of the city and I could not buy back my former homes at today's prices.

[eridani]

2. Fewer people are spending more than half their income on rent because--

--they are no longer in Seattle. They've moved to South King County.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

3. Many are moving to Snohomish County as well.

The ST and CT busses to Seattle during commuter hours are usually quite full.