These cities are the most and least affordable for renters
The good news for renters is that landlords today are less likely to raise the rent by a lot. The bad news is, rents are still high and unlikely to fall anytime soon. As with all real estate, though, rents are local, and some unexpected markets are heating up, while some hot ones are cooling off.
Austin, Texas, for example, is one of the most affordable rental markets in the nation, even though home prices there are rising fast. The reason is that job growth and wage growth are strong in the new tech hub, and rents are still comparatively low. It would take just 23 percent of the average resident’s monthly household income to pay the average monthly rent, according to a new study by AppFolio, an apartment management company which commissioned data from Axiometrics, a real estate research firm.