When Is It A Good Time To Rent? NOT Now!
The Census Bureau recently released their third quarter median rent numbers. Here is a graph showing rent increases from 1988 until today:
A recent Wall Street Journal article reports that rents rose “faster last year than at any time since 2007, a boon for landlords but one that has stoked concerns about housing affordability for renters.”
The article also cited results from a recent Reis Inc report which revealed that average effective rents rose 4.6% in 2015, the biggest gain since before the recession. Over the past 15 years, rents have risen at a rate of 2.7% annually.
Where are rents headed?
Jonathan Smoke, Chief Economist at realtor.com recently warned that:
“Low rental vacancies and a lack of new rental construction are pushing up rents, and we expect that they’ll outpace home price appreciation in the year ahead.”
Bottom Line
According to the WSJ article:
“In general, the higher rents go, the more difficult it will be for young people to save for down payments, making them likely to rent even longer.”
One way to protect yourself from rising rents is to lock in your housing expense by buying a home. If you are ready and willing to buy, let's get together to determine if you are able to today!
Fred Yancy, Realtors LLC
225 Creekstone Ridge, Woodstock, GA 30188
(678) 799-4663
www.FredYancy.com