Bleak News: More Americans Report Spending Half of Pay on Housing

Depending on where you live, one-in-four U.S. renters reports spending at least half of their pay on monthly housing cost

Not only is that bleak news, especially when taking into consideration rising utility, food, and fuel costs, but the outlook for a turnaround does not appear in the future.

A recent analysis finds there has been a 26 % surge since the Great Recession of 2007 in U.S. families who face burdensome monthly rents.

The growing trend of devoting at least half of their family income to housing and utilities, is not only happening in places like Los Angeles and New York, It’s occurring in a number of major cities according to Census data by Enterprise Community Partners, a nonprofit that helps finance affordable housing

In order to make ends meet, many individuals are forced to choose between the rent and buying necessities, such as groceries, gasoline, or paying the utilities on time. Forget about going to the doctor or paying for health insurance.

One of the glaring shortcomings of the recovery resulting in the growing crisis is that wages have failed to match rising rental prices.Average hourly wages have risen just 2.1% in the past 12 months, according to the Labor Department, while rental prices have climbed 3.7%.

Construction has failed to keep pace with demand from renters. While single-family housing is for the most part back on track, new apartment buildings have been given less emphasis.

Waves of foreclosures and layoffs caused by the Great Recession pushed Americans into renting. Statistics show that more than 36% of people now rent, compared with 31% before the recession began in late 2007.

Construction firms are building apartment complexes at an annual pace of roughly 321,333 this year.

It’s clear from the rising rental prices, say economists, that overall construction hasn’t kept pace with demand

As tightly as tenants are being squeezed by the high and rising rents, the closer they come to homelessness should they lose their jobs. And, that is something more renters live with every single day.

Because renters insurance is actually quite inexpensive, if you bundle it with your auto insurance, you should still be able to protect your stuff from fire, theft, and damage.

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