Depletion of Affordable Rental Housing Stock Could Hurt Sunbelt, West

As rents began to cool in Q2 of 2023, demand is picking up again and occupancy is stabilizing. This doesn’t bode well for affordable housing, particularly in Sunbelt cities. From 1999 to 2022, rents rose 135 percent while incomes increased 77 percent, causing the average rent-to-income ratio to hit 30 percent, the first time in two decades of tracking the data that so many tenants were rent-burdened. Half of the 10 hardest-hit cities were in Florida. And with 188,000 tax-credit units set to expire, property owners might have to start raising rents to offset the gap. If lower-income residents who perform necessary services can’t find places to live, they might have to relocate, leaving others with a decreased quality of life.

Source: https://www.orionprop.com/topfive/depletion-of-affordable-rental-housing-stock-could-hurt-sunbelt-west/