CityLab Daily: Red-Hot U.S. Rental Market Leaves Tenants Struggling
Also today: Museums workers jolted by pandemic job loss turn to unions, and when mayors take the comedic route.
A rent sign hangs outside of a building in Miami, one of several U.S. metro areas posting double-digit rent increases.
Photographer: Joe Raedle/Getty Images North AmericaThe modest dip in rents last year has given way to an unprecedented price hike in the 100 largest U.S. metro areas this year. Nationally, rents have increased 11% on average compared to last August, according to Zillow. The increase is most pronounced in cities like Phoenix, Arizona, and Boise, Idaho, where rents for a two-bedroom apartment have gone up 15% and 21%, respectively. This comes as qualified renters are re-entering the market and as rental units are in short supply, allowing some landlords to institute massive annual increases.
The consequences are even worse for the housing insecure, as local eviction bans and employment benefits run out. “We’re seeing people experiencing first-time homelessness, who six months ago were doing fine,” a housing authority official in Boise tells contributor Patrick Sisson. Today on CityLab: What’s Driving the Huge U.S. Rent Spike?