As demand for rental units increases, so does their non-affordability

Most renters in metros and their suburbs across the United States are unable to afford the average rental costs.

The NYU Furman Center/Capital One National Affordable Rental Housing Landscape recently released their report, Renting in America’s Largest Metropolitan Areas, painting a bleak picture of the affordability of renting in America.

Between 2006 and 2014, the renter population grew, while rental properties did not. More renters struggled to find housing they were able to afford.

And it’s not just in cities either, the number of renters has increased, as has the cost of renting, in the surrounding suburbs of metro areas nationwide.

In metro areas across the country, the increase in single-family rental units was larger than the increase in multifamily units between 2006 and 2014, but it was still not enough. As the rental population continued to increase, so did the average rental household size, causing an increase in rental prices.

According to the authors, household size can grow due to the lack of affordability of single person rentals. Some renters may find roommates, or move back in with their families. Across the U.S., the average number of people in each rental household has increased during this study period. However, the size of owner households decreased in metro areas nationwide, suggesting that renter household size is growing for reasons beyond broader demographic shifts.

Compared to 2006, there were almost 22 million more people renting in metro areas in 2014. This includes suburbs, who saw increase of a third in that eight-year span. Suburban renters spiked by more than 12 million people.

More metro areas- seven of the studied 11- became less affordable between 2006-2014. In metro areas across the country, the median gross rent increased in cities and their surrounding suburbs, but income did not typically increase in most of these areas. In 2014, 25 percent of renters were “severely rent-burdened,” some spending at least half of their salary on rent.

The majority of rental units on the market in 2014 were not affordable by low- and moderate-income renters in metros across the country.

The report focused on the 11 largest metropolitan areas in the country, which included Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.