Rents continue to soar, and the national numbers are even worse than California’s
Rents are on the rise across the United States, up nearly 40% from this time last year, according to a new report from rent analysis website Rent.com.
Year over year, U.S. rent prices rose 39% for one-bedroom units and 38.3% for two-bedroom units compared to July 2021.
Nationally, from June to July, prices for one-bedroom rental units rose around 4.1%, or nearly $70, and two-bedroom units increased by 2.8% in that same time span, good for nearly $60.
“Year-over-year increases continue at a steady pace, blowing past the 30 percent barrier for both bedroom types,” the report said. “Experts had expected the end of summer to usher in a period of moderate price increases. So far, that hasn’t been the case as prices and inventory in the housing market remain strong and mortgage rates are volatile.”
No state besides Idaho saw year-over-year price drops, while no state in the country saw decreases in the price of two-bedroom units.
California’s one-bedroom units rose 31.51% from this time last year, while two-bedroom units fared slightly better, rising 26.6% from 2021.
The report was compiled from July 2022 rent data from the top 100 cities in the United States by population, including 13 from California.
Of that pool of 13 California cities, only Irvine and Anaheim saw year-over-year decreases in the price of a one-bedroom unit, falling by 9.57% and 20.07% respectively from this time last year.
Year over year, two-bedroom unit rents fared slightly better in California with Irvine showing a 7.4% decrease to $3,774, Santa Ana decreasing by 3.48% to $3,463 and Rancho Cucamonga falling 3.08% to $3,086.
Fremont posted the fifth-largest year-over-year increase for two-bedroom rentals, rising by 44.8% compared to this time last year for a $3,991 price in 2022.
The report advised caution for lower-income families and individuals, as rents are rising faster than the housing wage — the minimum wage required to meet rent requirements — can keep up.
“A recent report by the National Low Income Housing Coalition found that a worker would need to earn at least $25.82 per hour to afford a small two-bedroom rental home,” the Rent.com report said. “For a one-bedroom, the wage dips slightly to $21.25 per hour, still well out of reach for the majority of low-wage workers.”
At those rates, a worker making the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour would need to work 96 hours a week to afford a two-bedroom rental, the report said.
