Renting apartments in the US is tough especially if one is trying to find a decent, affordable place to stay. Last year, the average cost for renting one room is around $1,372 per month which is 50 percent higher than the typical rental prices in the whole country.
Because of this rising problem, the citizens who belong to either the low or moderate income earners find it difficult to afford housing. Washington Post even described this kind of situation as "new supply tailored for the wealthy."
Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies published a report stating that the American's rental housing presented only 10 percent of the recently added rental apartments are considered affordable to the vast majority of citizens. These groups of people are referred to those households earning less than $35,000 per year.
The report added that this kind of scenario is mostly noticed in the most visible cities like Washington D.C. where the cranes and the construction crew are seen busily building new apartment buildings due to the high demand of luxe apartments.
Each rentable apartment could cost at least $2,000 per month. That means the renters should prepare around $1,850 [which is the cheapest price so far] for one bedroom, $2,196 or $2,994 for rooms with rooftop pool and grilling stations.
Developers responded to the facts presented. They said that they are responding to the new demand from the well-off renters for the last decade. According to them, there are 9 million additional renters in the US due to the demographic shifts and falling homeowner rates.
Washington Post explained that the main reason as to why the rental apartments seemed to be expensive for an average income earner is because of the increasing number of renters who are well-off.
As a result, there is a need to develop more luxury apartments to accommodate these kinds of renters compromising those people who are earning just an average per year. Developers also said that this move is also difficult for them especially if they charge just $857 per month. This amount collected from each renter could not even cover the entire cost of constructing the entire building.
"Height limits, parking requirements and zoning instructions all push up the cost of construction," Washington Post reported. To cover all the costs they spent for a building, they have to command $2,500 per month from the renters. At least in that way, they entire project will be profitable.
The question is how about the average income earners, will they still able to stay in a decent but affordable apartment?