The interest rate for 30-year mortgage loans (the most popular for buying a home) exceeded 5% for the first time in 11 years, aggravating the real estate crisis due to high prices.
A year ago, before runaway inflation prompted the Federal Reserve to raise rates, 30-year mortgages carried 3% interest, The Washington Post reported.
Luxury apartment complex in Miami.Getty Images/iStockphoto
The difficulties of buying a home are added to the high price of renting it: a report by Realtor.com reveals that rents rose 17.1% in the last year, reaching an average of 1,792 dollars per month.
Families must thus allocate almost a third of their income to pay the rent, according to the aforementioned newspaper.
Redfin's chief economist, Daryl Fairweather, told the aforementioned publication that those who are willing to buy homes are now renting due to the increase in interest rates.
[Inflation hurts the family budget: here's how you can adjust it]
This increase was more pronounced in some cities: in Miami (Florida) it reached 55.3%, with an average income of 2,929 dollars;
in Orlando, Florida, it was 35.4% ($1,843);
in Tampa (Florida) 32.3% (2,098 dollars);
in Austin (Texas), 28.1% (1,773 dollars);
and in San Diego (California), 25.4% ($3,008).
Why is an increase of up to 40% reported in housing rent?
This is what the experts say
Feb. 1, 202203:16
Among the cities that have the most affordable rent prices is Kansas City (Missouri), with an average of 1,216 dollars (about 20% of a family's income), followed by Oklahoma City (Oklahoma) with an average income of 923 dollars (21% of income) and Denver (Colorado) with 1,921 dollars (21.9% of the budget).
Studio apartments saw the biggest increase in rents, up 17.1% year over year to a national median of $1,474 a month.