Posted on 05/02/2015 7:18:57 AM PDT by BJ1
More than one in four U.S. renters have to use at least half their family income to pay for housing and utilities.
That's the finding of an analysis of Census data by Enterprise Community Partners, a nonprofit that helps finance affordable housing. The number of such households has jumped 26 percent to 11.25 million since 2007.
Since the end of 2010, rental prices have surged at nearly twice the pace of average hourly wages, according to data from the real estate firm Zillow and the Labor Department.
(Excerpt) Read more at wral.com ...
Just like food prices, the public assistance is driving up rent. Handing out free cash is inflationary.
that and the number of foreclosures which instantly create a new wave of renters needing SOMEWHERE to live.
the progressive planners probably knew this when they arranged for all those instant morrgages
“It’s harder to make a good wage, yet the prices to live are soaring. “
I have several rentals. Some of them are occupied by people on welfare and EBT. They make beer and cigarette money by selling EBT purchased stuff for cash. The government pays their power so they run the air conditioning at temperatures so low (or high) I can’t stand to work in their homes when they are home. (Incidentally, I kept my house at 50 in the winter and I sit in front of the fan during the summer.) I count myself lucky when I get somebody who is honest, not on drugs and trying to live within their means. I (so far) don’t adjust their rent as prices go up because I want them and I’d like to help them.
Why are rents so high? In my county a landlord can’t legally put on his own roof. Everybody wants a piece of the non-voting property. They gave home owners a price break on their property taxes. Guess where they made up the missing funds.
And yet, democrats continue the call to raise taxes on property, utilities, fuel, food, etc,etc,etc, thinking it will punish “the rich”
Ahh yes. In our new Utopia, since the transformation of America, this is the norm.
What’s infuriating is how the AP is reporting this, as this is an “outrage” or something and then the clarion call goes out for even more government policies that are causing this.
Well said.
Both parties sold us out with illegal immigration, “free” trade killing our mfgr base, taxpayer bailouts of banks, fraud, debt, 40% of wages needed to pay fed,state,local taxes & fees.
Effing mis-Managerial state that we’re stuck with.
And if you speak rational logic and sense highlighting these unsustainable burdens, you’re marginalized and labeled a radical conservative extremist, as your handle notes.
Insane times..
Well Hell!Why don’t we just provide them all a free apartment.Then they won’t even have to work.
How stupid of me.We already do that with Section Eight housing.
“They gave home owners a price break on their property taxes. Guess where they made up the missing funds.”
I was just going to point this out. I was looking into purchasing a rental property in my hometown.
I saw the property (school) tax bill and laughed hysterically. I’m not pissing away 33% of the gross income on that thing and putting up with more headaches to fund poorly planned teacher pensions. Yes, the property tax consumed 33% of the rent paid by tenants ... that doesn’t include income tax I’d have to pay nor costs maintaining the place!!!
There are still better places to buy rentals in my area (for the time being) :-). That place is going to sit on the market for a long time.
I own rental property, and I will say that the main reason the rent has increased is the huge increase in taxes, insurance, and materials cost. The portion of the rent that comes to Me, is smaller than it was ten years ago. The margins are eaten up with property taxes mostly. Those alone have almost doubled in the last six years. Each year when I have to adjust the rents, I tell the renters it is due to property tax and insurance increases. If I could sell the properties for what the county appraises them, I could retire comfortably, but the appraisals are ridiculous. One house is appraised at over $75K, yet nothing within two miles has sold for over $30K in ten years. The only one making money off rental property is the county that taxes it. the County has NO responsibility toward maintenance or any other expenses for the property, but they make pure profit on the result of my work to keep the property rented and livable. They also don’t lose anything when someone moves out owing uncollectable rent, and leaving thousands of dollars in damage.
Del Walmsley of Lifestyles Unlimited did a one hour talk on this topic.
The official interest rates are below inflation rates, dampening returns on bonds. The stock market is over-inflated due to borrowed money from institutions pumping up assets, though the dividends are actually low. So investors who want a reliable income stream are moving into real estate. He stated that both private investors and large corporations are buying single family homes that were foreclosed upon and building large multi-family. This is why property prices have risen while incomes are stagnant; a lot of money that might have gone into equities are going into real estate, because you can charge rent and get income.
He foresees the home ownership rate that’s already fallen from 2/3 to 63% falling to 50% or less, because home construction has shifted to the high end of the market - new houses are for the wealthier buyers, not starter homes that isn’t worth anything if foreclosed upon. He predicts that the model will shift from private home ownership to rentals again because too many people who lost a house can’t buy for years and the younger people on the market don’t want to be foreclosed upon plus need the mobility renting provides.
The story is about the cost of rent AND “Utilities” tak
ing over 50% of a renter’s income.
A story in the LA Times from April, 25th 2014 warned us about exactly what is happening. Government regulations creating uncertainty in the energy industry have caused power companies to scrap out and shut down economical and dependable coal powered plants in favor of natural gas, wind and solar that is much more expensive. Tighter rules on Nuclear power have stymied more production.
If you can trust government numbers, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) in September of 2014 issued a report showing a one year rise in cost average of 3.2% and some parts of the country at a 11.8% cost of electricity rise in just one year. Some studies predict a rise of electric rates of 37% in the next 10 years.
Many states have adopted energy policy based on the LIE that carbon dioxide is a pollutant that we all must pay to eliminate. They devised kickback schemes that were supposed to spare the poor from the increases by charging the “rich” more for their electricity. These additional costs just create an unnecessary TAX on ALL goods and services, including RENT.
Government failed to realize the depth of the consequences for the poor and our overall economy with the LIE they created forcing the cost of electricity to rise by demanding “designer” electricity in place of cheap and dependable coal power. The frightening thing is that the effects are just beginning.
If you liked your rental home, sorry…you can’t keep your rental home. You cannot afford your rental home. It has been sacrificed to the environmentalists climate change God.
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