The Real Estate Bloggers

Posted: 29 Apr 2011 06:32 AM PDT

Forrent For 26 percent of renters they are paying over half of their income on just rent and utilities. That is a staggering number. As rents keep rising as demand is growing, these same families are facing increased fuel and food costs.

It really is brutal and it is not going to get any better.

The Federal Reserve is recognizing that inflation is coming fast and there is no real way to stop it. And with families getting foreclosed on regularly the rental population keeps on growing.

I wish I had an easy answer for these families. I do know that something will have to give, either a revamping of Section 8 housing or the millions of empty homes sell for low enough that the investors can price the homes to the marketplace.

Either way, struggling families will need to find a way to keep a roof over their heads.

About 26 percent of renters — or 10.1 million people — spent more than half their pre-tax household income on rent and utilities in 2009. That’s because incomes slipped dramatically from their peak at the start of the decade even as rents kept rising.

The study offers the latest in a series of grim statistics about the scarcity of rental housing, especially for the working poor. The supply has not kept up with demand in part because of a shortage of apartments, a key source of new rentals. Developers cut back on such projects when the economy deteriorated in 2009, which drove down vacancies and boosted rents. Analysts say they expect rents to keep climbing as developers try to ramp up new projects and catch up with demand.

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When Renting Becomes Too Expensive