Inflation pressures have consistently squeezed the wallets of the American people since Biden entered office in early 2021, with the cost of rent among the most concerning.
On average, there’s been a massive rent increase of nearly 25% for one-bedroom rentals and a nearly 22% increase for two-bedroom rentals nationwide. Yet, some states are seeing even more drastic price hikes.
According to a mid-March report from Rent.com, nationwide rent prices have increased significantly year over year. The site reports that the average price for a 1-bedroom apartment is $1,684, up 24.4% from last year. The average price for a 2-bedroom apartment is $1,997, up 21.8% from a year ago.
The Nevada rental market has also seen a significant increase in prices in the last year, yet not as much as some states. Rent.com reports an estimated 19.98% rise in the state’s rent prices in the last year. However, some states such as Arizona, Florida, and Oklahoma have seen nearly 50% year-over-year increases.
According to a Fox Business report from early March, rent prices are expected to rise even more this year.
“In a lot of places, it costs more money even to rent than it is to own a mortgage,” Zillow economist Nicole Bachaud told the news outlet. For some Americans, the rising cost of living has forced them to move out, simply because they can’t afford these increases.
CoreLogic, a leading global property information, analytics, and data-enabled solutions provider says that U.S. single-family rent prices started 2022 strong, increasing 12.6% year over year in January compared to 3.9% in January 2021. Molly Boesel, principal economist at CoreLogic, said that “single-family rent growth extended its record-breaking price growth streak to 10 consecutive months in January” in a recent press release.
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reports that lawmakers in large cities across the U.S. are looking to enact rent-control measures which would generally allow landlords to boost monthly rents by no more than 2% to 10%.
“Rents are exploding at a pace far faster than income,” Stijn Van Nieuwerburgh, an economist and professor at Columbia Business School, pointed out.
One of Biden’s plans to make housing more affordable is that he will issue Section 8 vouchers to anyone who spends more than 30% of their income on rent. The policy intends to free up funds that renters can save and eventually use as a down payment on a home. According to Fee Stories businessman Daniel Kowalski, “one likely unintended result of this policy is that landlords will raise rents without the renter feeling the pain of the increase because the faceless taxpayer will pick up the difference.”
