California Renters Squeezed by Lack of Affordable Rentals ...

California Renters Squeezed by Lack of Affordable Rentals

You don??t have to read several media sources to notice that there are two

growing trends affecting the leasing and rental market. More and more renters

are searching for their next apartment online as opposed to traditional methods

and rental prices are rising as consumers choose to rent rather than buy in

order to wait for home sale prices to improve in affordability? as is clearly

evident in California where the median sales price of a home is at 0, 690.

Across the nation, the median sales price of a home is at 8,000.

According to Apartments.com, the company reported nearly 45 million visits in

2006, an increase of 20 percent over 2005. The top searched markets on the site

with the highest growth over 2005 were :

1. Chicago (214%)

2. Los Angeles (203%)

3. Phoenix (182%)

4. Ft. Lauderdale (168%)

5. Atlanta (163%)

6. Detroit (158%)

7. New York (157%)

8. Tampa (156%)

9. Orlando (153%)

10. San Jose / Silicon Valley (144%)

Note that Los Angeles and San Jose, which are cities located in California,

show a booming increase in online searchers looking for affordable rental

housing.

Unfortunately for many renters, as reported in a 2/4/07 online article in USA

Today, landlords are expected to raise apartment rents for a third-straight

year in 2007. By no means are we attempting to take pot-shots at landlords, the

objective is to give the perspective of how national rental rates compare to

those in California.

??With the projected rise of 5% this year, rents would be 14% higher than at

the end of 2004, the report says. From 2000 to 2004, most landlords couldn?t

raise rents because so many tenants were leaving to buy houses or condos. To

feed that buying frenzy, about 300,000 apartments were converted to condos for

sale in the past three years. Now, even with 92,000 new rental units this year,

the stock is still too little to meet rising demand.

Rents are rising because the payment gap between renting and owning remains

wide. Even with this year?s increase, the national median rent will be 3 a

month, only 60% of the median mortgage payment of ,566.?? In California, the

median rent is at approximately ,400 per month which is 47% of the median

mortgage payment of ,520.

And data from a Census Bureau report in 2000, showed that the highest rental

markets were in Irvine, Sunnyvale, Santa Clara or Fremont, all California

cities, where median gross rents all topped ,200 a month. That was six years

ago.

California cities claimed nine out-of-ten spots on the Census 2000?s list of

highest rents among large U.S. cities. The only non- California city in the top

high-rent tier was Stamford, Connecticut, at ,007 a month.

Ten Highest Rent Cities

Irvine, Calif. ? ,272

Sunnyvale, Calif. ? ,270

Santa Clara, Calif. ? ,238

Fremont, Calif. ? ,196

Thousand Oaks, Calif. ? ,131

San Jose, Calif. ? ,123

Daly City, Calif. ? ,074

Simi Valley, Calif. ? ,058

Stamford, Conn. ? ,007

Huntington Beach, Calif. ? $ 985

Keep in mind that Southern California is a sprawling geographic area dotted

with several hundred communities, it would be ridiculous to claim that there

are no affordable rental areas; however, as a renter you can realistically

expect to pay higher rents in more desirable neighborhoods or communities

located by the coast. In order to get a good perspective on rental prices and

desirable areas to live in, conduct a few online searches and check out sites

such as Realtor.com, Apartments,com and Rent.com.

If living in the ??Golden State?? is your dream, there are now more online

rental websites available with virtual tours, mapping tools and other

information, so you can shop for a California rental from your desktop.

Nef Cortez has been a licensed real estate broker and has held various positions in the real estate industry for over 25+ years. Visit his website at Chino Hills Real Estate for information on foreclosures.

Source: http://www.americanhomesrealestate.org/?p=620

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