Topic: Real Estate, Mortgage
Industries: Real Estate
Tags: Real Estate, Mortgage, House, Home, Renting
Publication: HousingWire
Date: May 18, 2012
If a more renter-centric economy is the solution to America’s housing woes, policymakers and developers will have to tackle two issues first — falling incomes and rising rents, housing experts say.
So far, the meteoric rise in multifamily permitting and construction is mostly geared toward the middle and higher-end markets, not affordable housing units in lower-income neighborhoods, where more supply is needed.
Research from Fannie Mae‘s economic and strategic research group found the percentage of renters paying at least 30% of their income for housing grew from 49.8% in 2006 to 53% in 2010.
Meanwhile, renters with severe affordability problems — or those spending at least half their income on rentals — grew from 25.1% to 27.4% during the same period, according to Fannie’s data.
Fannie Chief Economist Doug Duncan essentially says the dynamics of today’s market is creating more renters who are “experiencing housing cost burdens.” Based on Fannie’s data, 35 states saw increases in the growth rate of rental cost burdens between 2006 and 2010.
