There’s no doubt the Washington region has some of the priciest apartment and home rental rates in the nation. But in terms of local renters’ purchasing power, things are not so dire.
The local region ranks 64th nationally out of 196 communities surveyed in effective rental costs.
The survey, commissioned for LawnLove, surveyed at a variety of factors in order to come up with its ranking.
“We looked at average rent prices, year-over-year rent changes and the share of renters spending over 30 percent of their income on rent and utilities, among 9 total metrics,” analysts said.
By its analysis, the most expensive places to rent a property were Miami, New York City, Los Angeles, Oxnard (Calif.), Honolulu, Bloomington (Ind.), Tampa-St. Petersburg, Santa Barbara (Calif.) and Orlando. The least expensive on the list were Rock Springs (Wyo.),Sioux Falls (S.D.) and Ogden (Utah).
(Find the full survey and methodology at https://lawnlove.com/blog/most-expensive-metro-areas-to-rent/.)
Not surprisingly perhaps, the most urbanized areas of the nation also can be the most tricky for renters to find a deal.
“These metros share high living costs and significant portions of cost-burdened renters,” analysis said. “They are also vulnerable to market dynamics, such as real-estate investment trusts (REITs) that can drive up rental prices by flipping foreclosed homes into high-priced rentals.”
