Rent affordability will deteriorate over next two years: Zillow CEO

[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.