Bay Area Named The Worst Rental Market
It probably doesn’t surprise most of us to live here, but if we rent, we are paying out the you know what for just rent. If we own, we’re paying even more. At least those are the findings of Forbes’ annual ranking of rental cities.
The worst city for rentals, according to Forbes, is San Francisco. On average, renters pay $2,800 a month and their rent increases almost 13 percent a year.
MSA: San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, CA Metropolitan Division
Average monthly rent, Q4 2014: $2,802
Year-over-year % change in apartment rent: 12.8%
Median houshold income, Q4 2014: $85,087
Avg. rent as a share of household income: 40% Apartment vacancy rate, Q4 2014: 3.6%
Average monthly mortage payment, Q4 2014: $5,851
Mortgage payment v. rent: $3,049 cheaper to rent
Right behind San Francisco on the “worst” list is Oakland.
MSA: Oakland-Fremont-Hayward, CA Metropolitan Division
Average monthly rent, Q4 2014: $1,815
Year-over-year % change in apartment rent: 10.5%
Median houshold income, Q4 2014: $76,493
Avg. rent as a share of household income: 28% Apartment vacancy rate, Q4 2014: 2.9%
Average monthly mortage payment, Q4 2014: $4,182
Mortgage payment v. rent: $2,367 cheaper to rent
Right behind Oakland is San Jose.
MSA: San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area
Average monthly rent, Q4 2014: $2,291
Year-over-year % change in apartment rent: 11.3%
Median houshold income, Q4 2014: $93,902
Avg. rent as a share of household income: 29% Apartment vacancy rate, Q4 2014: 3.5%
Average monthly mortage payment, Q4 2014: $5,050
Mortgage payment v. rent: $2,759 cheaper to rent
Believe it or not, New York is behind even San Jose. Their average monthly rent is a bit higher than San Francisco, at about $3,300, but the annual increases are much lower.
METRO (Not an MSA): New York County (NY)
Average monthly rent, Q4 2014: $3,290
Year-over-year % change in apartment rent: 3.4%
Median houshold income, Q4 2014: $74,915
Avg. rent as a share of household income: 53% Apartment vacancy rate, Q4 2014: 2.3%
Average monthly mortage payment, Q4 2014: $7,917
Mortgage payment v. rent: $4,627 cheaper to rent
Rounding out the bottom cities are Los Angeles, San Diego, Northern New Jersey, Boston, Orange County, California and Palm Beach, Florida. I guess we should be happy that California has “only” six of the 10 worst rental markets.
Of course, there’s a reason our rental market is so tight – everyone wants to live here. We have the best weather, the best companies, but biggest variety of recreational activities and the best people.