Along with inflation in other areas of the economy, rent prices across the country, including North Carolina, have been on the rise. | Adobe Stock
Along with inflation in other areas of the economy, rent prices across the country, including North Carolina, have been on the rise. | Adobe Stock
Inflationary pressures have consistently squeezed the wallets of the American people since early 2021.
Among the areas of rising price concerns is the cost of rent.
“Single-family rent growth extended its record-breaking price growth streak to 10 consecutive months in January,” said Molly Boesel, a principal economist with CoreLogic, according to CoreLogic's website. CoreLogic is a leading global property information, analytics and data-enabled solutions provider.
A mid-March report from Rent.com shows that the national average price for a one-bedroom apartment is $1,684, up 24.4% from last year. The national average price for a two-bedroom apartment is $1,997, up 21.8% from a year ago.
The North Carolina rental market has seen an even higher increase in prices in the last year. Rent.com reports an estimated 26.48% rise in the state. However, some states such as Arizona, Florida and Oklahoma have it even worse, seeing nearly 50% year-over-year increases.
A Fox Business report from early March projected that rent prices are expected to rise even more this year.
"In a lot of places, it costs more money even to rent than it is to own a mortgage," Zillow economist Nicole Bachaud told Fox Business. For some Americans, the rising cost of living has forced them to move out, simply because they can't afford these steep increases.
The Wall Street Journal reports that lawmakers in large cities across the U.S. are looking to enact rent-control measures that would generally allow landlords to boost monthly rents by no more than 2% to 10%. “Rents are exploding at a pace far faster than income,” Stijn Van Nieuwerburgh, an economist and professor at Columbia Business School, pointed out.
One of Biden’s plans to make housing more affordable is to issue Section 8 vouchers to anyone who spends more than 30% of their income on rent. The policy's intention is to free up funds that renters can save and eventually use as a down payment on a home.
That could actually fuel more increases, however, one critic said.
"One likely unintended result of this policy is that landlords will raise rents without the renter feeling the pain of the increase because the faceless taxpayer will pick up the difference,” businessman Daniel Kowalski wrote on the FEE Stories website.
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