Rental trend squeezing affordable housing market

January 21, 2018                           By: Jon O'Connell

Fewer people own their homes, and that’s squeezing the rental market as more families sign leases instead of mortgages.

As the number of available apartments lags behind growing demand, rents are on the rise.

The median cost to rent an apartment in Pennsylvania swelled 5 percent, from $822 to $859 between 2011 and 2016, according to the most recent U.S. Census Bureau data.

The phenomenon appears to have a disproportionate effect on people spending more of their income on rent, data shows.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development says a family is housing cost-burdened when they spend more than 30 percent of their income on rent.

Half of renting Pennsylvanians fit that description, data shows........Read More