203311 Resource 178438 178984 178984 1210203583281 1210203583281 Controlled Time To Buy A Home Is Now!

Rents Are Projected To Rise 5.3%

<p class="style4">It’s getting harder for renters to find an affordable place to live with rents rising and availability falling. The median asking rate for rentals has jumped 14 percent, from $591 a month during the fourth quarter of 2003 to $673 a month in 2007, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Vacancy rates are down from last year, and average rent is projected to rise 5.3 percent in 2008, up from a 3.1 percent increase in 2007, according to the National Association of Realtors. "We've seen demand for rental housing go up," says Mark Obrinsky, chief economist at the National Multi Housing Council. "The ownership side is retrenching, and we're seeing the demand going to the rental side. There's a lot of hesitancy to buy. Others can't get (financing), so they're remaining renters longer." <em>Source: Rentometer and USA Today</em></p> 10 application/xml false Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 7.0; Windows NT 5.1; .NET CLR 1.1.4322) 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 lfontanini 64.146.67.30 false true false false true 178975 false false true false false false true 178438 blog blogsite/BestFlagstaffHomes/web