The phenomenon of rising rents is occurring across the USA, with New York City seeing rents rise faster than renters’ salaries. Nery Alaev investigates.

1. American rents to rise by 8% this year
The phenomenon of rising rents is occurring across the United States, with iconic metropolis
New York City seeing rents rise faster than renters’ salaries.
I’m looking into this phenomenon today, the areas affected and the reasoning behind the
increases.
Major jumps
New York and San Francisco, which has become a breeding ground for tech start-ups in recent
years, remain the most expensive cities to rent in the country.
San Francisco’s asking prices stand at a premium $3,530 for a one-bedroom apartment available
in September, with New York standing at $3,160. Secondary cities such as Oakland, Jacksonville
and Fresno have all seen increases of over 15% each.
Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies and Enterprise Community Partners, a
group that focuses on affordable housing, found that more Americans will be spending over half
of their income on rent will rise by over one million people in the next decade. The projected
increase highlights the severity of price rises.
Supply and demand
The reasoning behind the increases, provided by a survey by Rent.com of more than 500
property managers in the USA, is that low housing stock has allowed for a scenario where less
compromise is needed and closing a deal at a higher price is possible
More than 46% of property managers surveyed reported a decrease in rental vacancies in
Rent.com’s survey.
This percentage is in tangent with the statistic that the second quarter of 2015 saw vacancy rates
in the U.S. for rental housing at 6.8% - the lowest it has been in almost two decades.
Such figures point towards an increase in power for managers and landlords, with prospective
tenants losing out as a result.
ESN Investments GmbH
Nery Alaev is the current Director of ESN Investments GmbH, which engages in acquisition and
development of commercial and residential property in Germany and Austria