Are rents up in your city?

[AlCzervik]

My neighbor or decided to rent out his house--long story--anyhow it's a small newer home with a tiny backyard and he's asking $2,000 a month which i though was nuts until i started looking at other rentals in the same area. 2 years ago this house might have rented out for about $1400 max.

[Captain Hilts]

1. By 8.5%. Double the past. No rent control in Monty Cty MD. nt

[Atman]

2. No.

Check out the Hartford Craigslist rental section. It's HUGE. There's a glut, as people are trying to rent out their investment properties at just about anything they can get for them and hold out long enough for the market to turn around. A couple of years ago there'd be a dozen listings each day. Today, you have to scroll through several screens worth of listings. And a lot of the stuff is CHEAP. Beautiful four bedroom homes for $1200. It's a renter's market right now...if you can pass the credit check.

.

[KamaAina]

3. And how!

When I got here nearly seven years ago, it was possible to find a studio, maybe even a small one-bedroom, in Waikiki for $700. Now I'm lucky to have a tiny studio a mile or so outside Waikiki, that was originally built as a vacation rental, for $850.

Bear in mind that, while we do enjoy the country's second-lowest unemployment rate, most of the jobs are in low-wage service industries, especially tourism. Many people must work two jobs to keep up with the cost of living. Many others move to Vegas or other mainland hot spots, to be replaced by yet more wealthy (and often repuke) second-home types from the mainland, and the cycle continues...

edit: spelling

[DaveJ]

4. Yes, but it's still better than buying...

I heard property taxes have been skyrocketing, and that it excludes private residences, but still includes business and rental property, so that has been getting passed along to the people who can least afford it. Just another strategy to gentrify.

Plus more people are renting because few people want to buy in this housing market.

Edit: We got a nice deal on a one bedroom garden level apartment in a "3 flat" which is only $875. Our prior rent was going up to well over $1200 and we wanted to save.

[ariesgem]

5. Rents have doubled in the Los Angeles area.

I manage 2 buildings in the Pasadena area. The building that I reside at was 4 years ago renting 2 bed/2 bath apartments at $750. They're currently renting at $1495. Whenever a tenant moves out, the owners want me to advertise it at $75 more than the current rent to see if I can get a taker. Rents in the surrounding areas are also going through the roof. The city's gentrifying many of these areas with expensive luxury apartments and condos which generates huge rent increases to older apartments in these areas.

Gentrification is now moving into low-income parts of the city. The land developers have bought up entire blocks and the bull dozing has begun. It's my belief that this is done to ass-out 'certain folks' for the purpose of moving in folks who the city deems 'more desirable'.