KEEP AN EYE ON APARTMENT RENT GROWTH: Since the pandemic began, apartment rents have grown at a much faster pace than incomes have. The median renter in the U.S. had to spend 29.6% of his income on an average rent in the first quarter of 2023, according to Moody’s Analytics. Moody’s calls this “uncomfortably high,” even though it is slightly lower than last year, when the rent-to-income measure crossed 30% for the first time ever. At the end of last year, rent to income exceeded 30% in seven metros: New York, Boston, Northern New Jersey, Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, and L.A. Most bank CEOs (ConnectOne Bank’s CEO Frank Sorrentino being an exception) are oddly sanguine about multi-family lending; perhaps it deserves a second, more skeptical look.
Watch out. Rents are growing faster than incomes.
By Thomas K. Brown,
KEEP AN EYE ON APARTMENT RENT GROWTH: Since the pandemic began, apartment rents have grown at a much faster pace than incomes have. The median renter in the U.S. had to spend 29.6% of his income on an average rent in the first quarter of 2023, according to Moody’s Analytics. Moody’s calls this “uncomfortably high,” even though it is slightly lower than last year, when the rent-to-income measure crossed 30% for the first time ever. At the end of last year, rent to income exceeded 30% in seven metros: New York, Boston, Northern New Jersey, Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, and L.A. Most bank CEOs (ConnectOne Bank’s CEO Frank Sorrentino being an exception) are oddly sanguine about multi-family lending; perhaps it deserves a second, more skeptical look.