National Median Rent Hits 2017 High

Sep 05, 2017

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) is taking aim at a bill before the California legislature that would force a rent cap on property owners

The national median rent reached $1,081 in September, its highest point of the year, according to new data from ABODO. Since January’s mark of $1,016, the national median rent has increased by 0.2 percent during the first nine months of 2017.

For the second consecutive month, Cleveland experienced the greatest month-over-month rent hike in the country, with median one-bedroom rents increasing by 12.8 percent, from $619 to $698. And also for the second month in a row, Glendale, Ariz., saw the greatest rent decrease, with a 9.5 percent drop on one-bedroom rents to $673.

As for the most expensive rents, San Francisco and New York were still the top two markets with the highest rental costs. The one-bedroom median rent in San Francisco was $3,240, up $30 from August’s report, while New York saw rents drop $57 to a still-high median rent of $2,850.

A recent report by Zillow found that homelessness rates in New York City, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C. and Seattle increased by at least four percent between 2011 and 2016. The study also found that a five percent increase in New York City’s rents would force almost 3,000 more people into homelessness, while rent hikes in Los Angeles would swell that city’s homeless population by nearly 2,000 and Seattle’s by nearly 260

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Phil Hall

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Sep 05, 2017

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