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75 June 2025 J O U R N A L June 2025 » RENTER AFFORDABILITY IMPROVES AS THEY ADHERE TO '30% RULE' F ollowing significant increases during the pandemic, rentals are becoming more affordable nationwide. Renters making the average household income used 23.4% of their income to lease a typical for-rent home, a decrease from 24.7% in April 2024, according to new data from the Realtor. com April Rent Report. Only five of the top 50 U.S. metros have a rent share greater than 30% in relation to the medi- an household income, though this varies by metro. The median asking rent nationwide in April was $1,699, up $5 from the previ- ous month but still $60 below its peak in August 2022. "One approach to measuring rental affordability is the 30% rule of thumb that says a household should spend no more than 30% of its gross income on housing costs. Using this measure, the typical for-rent home is affordable in most major U.S. metros for renters earning the typical household income," said Danielle Hale, Chief Economist at Realtor.com. "Even in unaffordable markets, we saw improvement in April. Generally small but steady rent declines have chipped away at rental costs for nearly 3 years, and income growth has boosted household buying power. While this is good news, rent prices are still roughly 20% above pre-pandemic levels, and consumers have expressed concerns about their job security and financial situation in recent surveys." In Which U.S. Markets Can Rent- ers Find More Affordability? The median rent for a typical apart- ment with 0–2 bedrooms was only 55.6% of the estimated maximum affordable rent in April, making Oklahoma City the most affordable rental market. Addition- ally, big increases in affordability were shown in Western metro areas this year, such as San Diego, Denver, and Phoenix, after notable improvements were seen in Southern markets like Miami and Tampa, FL, the previous year. Rental Markets With a Rental Burden Above 30% of Income (0-2 Bedrooms)–April 2025 Rank Metros April 2025 Median Rent April 2025 Rent Share of Income Percentage Point Changes (April 2025 vs. 2024) Maximum Af- fordable Rent at Current HH Income April 2025 Rent vs. Max Af- fordable Rent (Ratio) 1 Miami-Fort Lauder- dale-West Palm Beach, FL $2,345 37.9 % -3.1 ppt $1,857 1.26 2 New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ $2,936 37.1 % -0.2 ppt $2,374 1.24 3 Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA $2,712 35.6 % -1.9 ppt $2,285 1.19 4 Boston-Cambridge-New- ton, MA-NH $2,968 32.6 % -0.4 ppt $2,732 1.09 5 San Diego-Chula Vis- ta-Carlsbad, CA $2,669 31.1 % -3.9 ppt $2,577 1.04 Top 5 Most Affordable Rental Markets (0-2 Bedrooms)–April 2025 Rank Metros April 2025 Median Rent April 2025 Rent Share of Income Maximum Affordable Rent at Current HH Income April 2025 Rent vs. Max Affordable Rent (Ratio) 1 Oklahoma City, OK $994 16.7 % $1,788 0.56 2 Austin-Round Rock- San Marcos, TX $1,470 17.2 % $2,560 0.57 3 Columbus, Ohio $1,210 18.0 % $2,012 0.60 4 Raleigh-Cary, NC $1,489 18.2 % $2,453 0.61 5 Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI $1,497 18.5 % $2,421 0.62