It stinks to buy a home, but renting is a complete nightmare, too
Summary List Placement The pandemic unchained Americans from their office desks and sent rental vacancies in big cities like New York and San Francisco climbing. In an attempt to curb the free fall, a record share of landlords slashed rent prices and offered concessions like months off rent and waived application fees to lure tenants back in. But good luck finding those concessions or vacancies now. Average national monthly rent surpassed $1,500 in June for the first time, according to a new release from the National Apartment Association . Occupancy is also at 96.5%, the highest it''s been in 20 years. Rent increases year to date are also starkly higher than in the past: The rental website Apartment List found that the median apartment rent in the US rose 9.2% through the first six months of 2021. Typical first-half growth was previously 2 to 3%, Insider''s Ben Winck reported , citing Apartment List. The frenzy, in part, is because of an overheated real-estate sales market. Millions of Americans have tried to scoop up homes over the past year and now they''re getting completely shut out because of record-low inventory, sky-high prices, and intense competition marked by bidding wars pushing those flush with cash to offer up to $1 million over asking prices .
It stinks to buy a home, but renting is a complete nightmare, too
Summary List Placement The pandemic unchained Americans from their office desks and sent rental vacancies in big cities like New York and San Francisco climbing. In an attempt to curb the free fall, a record share of landlords slashed rent prices and offered concessions like months off rent and waived application fees to lure tenants back in. But good luck finding those concessions or vacancies now. Average national monthly rent surpassed $1,500 in June for the first time, according to a new release from the National Apartment Association . Occupancy is also at 96.5%, the highest it''s been in 20 years. Rent increases year to date are also starkly higher than in the past: The rental website Apartment List found that the median apartment rent in the US rose 9.2% through the first six months of 2021. Typical first-half growth was previously 2 to 3%, Insider''s Ben Winck reported , citing Apartment List. The frenzy, in part, is because of an overheated real-estate sales market. Millions of Americans have tried to scoop up homes over the past year and now they''re getting completely shut out because of record-low inventory, sky-high prices, and intense competition marked by bidding wars pushing those flush with cash to offer up to $1 million over asking prices .