US in “Worst Rental Affordability Crisis” Ever

About half of renters spend more than 30 percent of their income on rent, up from 18 percent a decade ago, according to newly released research by Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies. Twenty-seven percent of renters are paying more than half of their income on rent.
“We are in the midst of the worst rental affordability crisis that this country has known,” says Shaun Donovan, U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
Rising rents mixed with a stunted wage growth has created an affordability problem, the study notes. Between 2000 and 2012, real median rents rose nationwide by 6 percent. However, over that same time period, the real median income of renters fell by 13 percent.
A shortfall in affordable units is particularly troublesome as low-income renters struggle to find a place, the study notes.
“Over four years, [there’s been] a 43 percent increase in the number of Americans with worst-case housing needs,” says Donovan. “Let’s be clear what that means: They’re paying more than half of every dollar they earn for housing.”

Realtor Magazine

December 10, 2013

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