This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.

Here Is The Average Cost To Rent A 2-Bedroom Apartment In Your City

Tyler Durden's picture




 

We have been pounding the table since 2009 that without a sustainable increase in average disposable income, the US housing market - that core driver for "wealth effect" and net worth for the "rest of us", i.e., those non-1%ers whose net worth is not tied up in various rigged, manipulated capital markets - will never recover, and as a result, neither will the US economy.

Four dead-cat bounces, and yet another fading bubble in home prices later, this has again proven accurate, with the percentage of Americans owning houses dropping to levels not seen in 19 years.

 

The inverse, or the percentage of Americans renting, promptly manifested itself, and is essentially a mirror image of the chart above.

 

To be sure, the logical tradeoff to unaffordable housing, one which also was expected from the beginning, and has manifested itself quarter after quarter, is a relentless increase in median asking rents to new monthly record highs across the nation...

... and especially in the northeast.

 

Ironically, the rental price surge, one which the CPI calculation stubbornly does its best to ignore, is taking place even as median rental income is the lowest it has been in over two decades.

 

But what is even more surprising is the clear dispersion among socioeconomic...

 

and ethnic classes...

 

... when it comes to a propensity to rent, suggesting that the marginal renter is increasingly the most financially challenged, which in turn also begs the question: how much longer can rental prices keep rising?

Still, as Mother Jones notes, "With more people trying to get into same number of units you get an incredible pressure on prices," says Shaun Donovan, the former secretary of housing and urban development for the Obama administration."

And yet, surely there is a limit to how far the average American can be pushed: today, half of all renters pay more than 30 percent of their monthly income in rent. For 28 percent of Americans, some 11.3 million, more than half of their salaries go toward rent!

One thing is clear: until there is a reason to reverse the own-to-rent trend, one which will not appear until median consumer incomes resume growing for all, not just for the uber-wealthy, this trend will continue until finally Americans are priced out of not only owning, but also renting.

*   *   *

So with all that said, and with record rental expenses already forcing millions of Americans to have far less disposable income (hint to the econogeniuses in Princeton: if tens of millions have to spend the bulk of their income on rent, that means there is far less disposable income left for everything else, which also precludes benign inflation from appearing... not to be confused with hyperinflation from monetary debasement) for everything else once the monthly bill for the roof above one's head is paid, here is a breakdown of 25 selected US metropolitan areas, ranked from most to least expensive, how much it costs to rent a two-bedroom apartment (one can only assume the $1,440 price listed for New York is based on some non-GAAP, magical numbers that exclude reality).

 

- advertisements -

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.
Tue, 08/12/2014 - 15:11 | 5083115 SmittyinLA
SmittyinLA's picture

Its gonna get much much worse, 1million + legal immigrants 1 million guest workers, 2-3 million a year illegals, 1 million refugees a year and no new housing or water or oil.

Get used to endless haircuts forever or border enforcement.

 

More people = less everything 

Tue, 08/12/2014 - 15:25 | 5083211 Lone_Star
Lone_Star's picture

Austin, which conveniently wasn't on the chart, must have screwed the curve by a std dev or two. I'm living a couple of miles south of downtown and still paying more than any of them but San Fran.

Tue, 08/12/2014 - 15:35 | 5083265 robertocarlos
robertocarlos's picture

See what happens when you invite the F1 circus into town. You need helicopter landing pads everywhere.

Tue, 08/12/2014 - 15:36 | 5083269 SilverRhino
SilverRhino's picture

Oddly enough Dallas is off that list too.  

Enjoying my 3000 sq ft house for $1400 a month.

Tue, 08/12/2014 - 15:31 | 5083242 mattgallis
mattgallis's picture

A two-bedroom apartment in NYC goes for 1,450 a month?  

Bhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaahahahahahahahahaahahahahah... Good joke!

 

Tue, 08/12/2014 - 16:01 | 5083422 Frank N. Beans
Frank N. Beans's picture

Maybe they were including all the rent-controlled units, where people have lived for 30 years.

$3-5k/month is more likely for a nice place to move into. 

Tue, 08/12/2014 - 16:04 | 5083446 mattgallis
mattgallis's picture

i think 1,450 for a two-bedroom apt in Harlem is probably about right but that should be the low.. Not nearly close enough to the average

Tue, 08/12/2014 - 15:31 | 5083247 HumanResourceProblem
HumanResourceProblem's picture

Maybe
you could stay in a coffin flop for $1440/month in NYC! These HUD stats must be for public housing.

Tue, 08/12/2014 - 15:33 | 5083256 robertocarlos
robertocarlos's picture

That place in Zurich would be OK if the US dollar was worth 5 francs. It's a nice apt.

Tue, 08/12/2014 - 15:33 | 5083262 DOT
DOT's picture

Puh-Leez everyone would Mother Jones tell a lie?

 

For beautiful lake front property see the plus 90 min. zones around Chicago. And just HOPE that the price of gass does not CHANGE.

 

Tue, 08/12/2014 - 15:39 | 5083284 Dollar Bill Hiccup
Dollar Bill Hiccup's picture

$1440 for a 2 bdrm in NYC?

In the Bronx maybe w/ free cockroaches ...

In Manhattan, 2wice that if lucky

Tue, 08/12/2014 - 15:40 | 5083292 GaryTheSnail
GaryTheSnail's picture

Agreed.  For Los Angeles, they must clearly be counting Riverside and Compton and such in there, driving the average down.  How about a chart that shows average rent in neighborhoods where you have a life expectancy of greater than 15 minutes, or in neighborhoods where it doesn't take 4 hours to commute to the only geographic pockets of real jobs in the city?

As an aside, what the heck do Taco Bell workers do?  Stuff 25 people in a one bedroom apartment or something?

Tue, 08/12/2014 - 15:48 | 5083317 22winmag
22winmag's picture

In the near future, landlords will be the ones with their heads mounted on pikes... right next to the militarized fuzz, bankers, and politicans of every stripe.

Tue, 08/12/2014 - 16:27 | 5083618 toady
toady's picture

That's the main reason I use property management companies. Anonymity.

Tue, 08/12/2014 - 15:48 | 5083325 Pumpkin
Pumpkin's picture

 their children wake up homeless on the continent their Fathers conquered

 

Well, homeless was right.  The waking up part was a stretch.

Tue, 08/12/2014 - 15:51 | 5083349 philosophers bone
philosophers bone's picture

 

 

"I love you.  You pay my rent."  - Pet Shop Boys

Tue, 08/12/2014 - 15:52 | 5083357 Chewybunny
Chewybunny's picture

What's a miss is that they are just averaging out the numbers.

Take LA where I am at. There are places that have rent that is astronomically high; usually around Hollywood, Beverly Hills, some of the hills and other neighborhoods, and there are places where it's incredibly cheap, and the incredibly cheap places is what drags down the numbers. Go to east LA, go to Compton, and you'll see some real near third world cheapness.

Tue, 08/12/2014 - 16:07 | 5083457 vincenze
vincenze's picture

50% of the population of LA are Latinos. Most of them work for minimum wages with non-working wives and many children.

They can easily afford to live in LA, even Hollywood is full of them.

Tue, 08/12/2014 - 16:17 | 5083521 Professorlocknload
Professorlocknload's picture

Section 8 makes it all possible. It puts a floor under rents, thereby, a floor under price. Win, win for landlords and " qualified" tenants. Lose, lose for lower middle class renters and home buyers.

Spot the voting blocks?

More of the same government intervention will simply make it worse for those in the middle.

Tue, 08/12/2014 - 15:58 | 5083410 BlissPoint
BlissPoint's picture

Seems like all the numbers underestimate the true cost by about 20%.

Tue, 08/12/2014 - 16:25 | 5083590 talisman
talisman's picture

The rentalsin cities that are under rent control-such as San Francisco and NYC- may well be overall averate currently existing  rental figures....The cost for a new rental is very substantially higher (probably by at least 50%)

Tue, 08/12/2014 - 16:25 | 5083591 talisman
talisman's picture

The rentalsin cities that are under rent control-such as San Francisco and NYC- may well be overall averate currently existing  rental figures....The cost for a new rental is very substantially higher (probably by at least 50%)

Wed, 08/13/2014 - 01:07 | 5085853 Rock On Roger
Rock On Roger's picture

Because the charts end at 2011.

 

3 years behind...

Tue, 08/12/2014 - 15:59 | 5083418 knukles
knukles's picture

Now renting with pet cockroaches

Tue, 08/12/2014 - 16:27 | 5083621 njfeds
njfeds's picture

Howling, pissing my pants and did I say laughing so hard it hurts. NYC 2 bedrooms for the price you have in your chart? Right. THere is this bridge in New York called the FUCKING Brooklyn Bridge and anyone who thinks a real 2 BR is going for under 5K (doorman = add on) is welcome to buy it for the asking price of the listed 2BR. This city is for the .001% and $1440 will get you a shithole in Staten Island. Come on. you could not figure that out before posting. Where do the 100 of you posters live? Enid, OK?

Tue, 08/12/2014 - 21:15 | 5085077 Sheppy
Sheppy's picture

You know there are 4 other boroughs figured into that equation? An apt in East NY or co-op city can go for as low as 650/mo. Is it a dump? Definitely. But it also greatly reduces the average cost of rent in the city of NY. And there are a helluva lot more crappy 2 br's in Brooklyn than there are 10,000/mo 2 br's in Manhattan.

Tue, 08/12/2014 - 21:41 | 5085205 asa-vet52
asa-vet52's picture

Leave us Okies out of your rants. TIA

Tue, 08/12/2014 - 16:55 | 5083825 I am a Man I am...
I am a Man I am Forty's picture

Fucking DC, unbelievable

Tue, 08/12/2014 - 17:11 | 5083924 ILoveDebt
ILoveDebt's picture

At least for Cleveland, I assume the numbers are close to correct.  I live in Columbus, which isn't near the shithole Cleveland is, and rents for a decent two bedroom run about 800 - 900.  Shitholes can be found for 600 or so that are two bedroom but somehow only about 650 sq ft.  

People knock the Midwest, but it is cheap to live and if you don't need oceans or mountains, then it isn't that much different than living 90% of the other places that are close to those things but still require a drive to enjoy them.  I bought a 1700 sq ft 3 bedroom house a few years ago for $132,000, built in 2001.  Decent construction, not super cheap materials, not high end.  My mortgage is about 12% of my monthly take home.  

I'm not sure I'm willing to pay for whatever benefits living in San Francisco would give me.  

Tue, 08/12/2014 - 20:28 | 5084847 Jackagain
Jackagain's picture

Earthquakes & fags cost extra...

Tue, 08/12/2014 - 17:21 | 5083989 SilverMoneyBags
SilverMoneyBags's picture

Move to Wilmington, NC. You can get a 2 bed, 2 bath apartment, including cable for $650 a month and you will be less than 10 miles from the ocean. Why anyone would want to live on those dumps listed above is baffling.

Tue, 08/12/2014 - 17:21 | 5083991 SilverMoneyBags
SilverMoneyBags's picture

Move to Wilmington, NC. You can get a 2 bed, 2 bath apartment, including cable for $650 a month and you will be less than 10 miles from the ocean. Why anyone would want to live on those dumps listed above is baffling.

Tue, 08/12/2014 - 17:35 | 5084097 soylentgreenispeople
soylentgreenispeople's picture

San Francisky? So How Did You Came, Did You Drove or Did You Flew?

Tue, 08/12/2014 - 17:48 | 5084164 Hongcha
Hongcha's picture

Wages are not going to rise so where does that leave these prices?  And many other prices for that matter.

Disclosure: In cash.

Tue, 08/12/2014 - 18:28 | 5084343 observiate
observiate's picture

i kind of wish one of the Durdens would include the Permian Basin, i.e., Midland/Odessa, TX in this analysis...it is a microcosm of ridiculous rents out here...we're talking early 1980's apt's goin for 1200 a month or more.  Interesting phenomenon.  I'm all for the energy boom (commodity prices/US dollar devaluation, yah yah yah i get that but that's a much larger, yet related issue), however the population influx has created mispricing in my opinion.  the local officials have not been very proactive, it would seem, in being friendly to real estate developers to allow prices to reach a more sustainable equilibrium

boom and bust baby. boom and bust...

Tue, 08/12/2014 - 18:30 | 5084352 cynicalskeptic
cynicalskeptic's picture

Welcome to the new serfdom!

 

Soon you'll be selling yourself and your progeny into permanent indentured servitude (serfdom) in exchange for a place to live and 3 bowls of gruel a day - and the opportunity to work 12/7 for your Lord and Master.

As wealth becomes more and more concentrated a rentier class ends up owning damn near everything with the masses paying rent for EVERYTHING in their lives.

Tue, 08/12/2014 - 20:27 | 5084842 Jackagain
Jackagain's picture

Combine this story with the welfare one and you got the White House....

Tue, 08/12/2014 - 20:58 | 5084994 boeing747
boeing747's picture

$1800 one bed apartment in san jose, ca. Yes, I didn't see it coming.

Your income must be 3 to 4 times of rental to qualify for the space.

plus: renter's insurance

no eviction record,

no crime recond,

two years' tax records,

three months pay slip,

all utility bills

......

Tue, 08/12/2014 - 21:08 | 5085051 Sheppy
Sheppy's picture

Better than having a mortgage... maintaining the property as well as everything you pay. Mortgage alone is $2200. Should have stayed a renter...

Tue, 08/12/2014 - 21:07 | 5085039 Sheppy
Sheppy's picture

Vans are a much better investment. Buy a van to live in and join a gym to shower. Hell... you might even get your fat butt in shape. Total monthly output... about $650. And that's for a fancy van! With a membership at NYSC or equinox. Work from home, follow the weather.

Tue, 08/12/2014 - 21:18 | 5085089 Mid-Ocean
Mid-Ocean's picture

Honolulu is $2161, and we don't even have a high paying tech sector.

Tue, 08/12/2014 - 21:19 | 5085090 Mid-Ocean
Mid-Ocean's picture

Honolulu is $2161, and we don't even have a high paying tech sector.

Tue, 08/12/2014 - 22:18 | 5085376 goldflows
goldflows's picture

< Top 10 worst Tyler post ever.

< Fair and balanced.

Wed, 08/13/2014 - 07:10 | 5086258 AdvancingTime
AdvancingTime's picture

Here in Indiana we have rates far below what you are showing and many empty apartments. Something is wrong, you would think people on fixed incomes would move to these low cost areas to enjoy the lower cost of living.

Wed, 08/13/2014 - 07:15 | 5086269 angela03
angela03's picture

Here at Zero Hedge they believe they are fucking geniuses for uncovering the obvious. They truly believe we out here in no mans land didin't realize that wages have gone nowhere, if not down, and that the funny money being printed was going to relatively few hands. The only practical result was a quick rebound in real estae as homes were bought for rental purposes at bargain basement prices.

Do NOT follow this link or you will be banned from the site!