Is that the case in Lakewood where developments are booming and even spilling over into neighboring towns?
Lakewood seems to be an anomaly when it comes to housing development, but somehow is not immune from the skyrocketing mortgage and rental rates. There seems to be a disconnect between the report and Lakewood.
Anyone that lives in Lakewood can see that mortgage rates are rising and keep on rising to the point that prospective homeowners are being priced out of the market and rent is harder to afford than in a decade if you can find a place to begin with. That comports with the new Redfin report.
In the report, Redfin shows that nationally listed rents for available apartments rose 15% from a year ago. And the median listed rent for an available apartment rose above $2,000 a month for the first time. The report shows that rents are up more than 30% in Austin, Seattle, and Cincinnati, which generally have the lowest rental rates in the country. In Los Angeles the median asking rent is $3,400. Formerly affordable cities like Nashville now have a median rent of $2,140, up 32% from last year. These are full-fledged cities with a lot of apartment buildings. Lakewood is becoming a city for sure but so far building large apartment buildings has been denied to developers.
“Housing is getting less affordable for everyone at every level,” says Daryl Fairweather, the chief economist for Redfin. “After the last housing crash, we didn’t build enough homes for a decade. And that lack of supply is the biggest force pushing up home prices and making it harder for people to afford to buy a home.”
Is that the case in Lakewood where developments are booming and even spilling over into neighboring towns? Lakewood seems to be an anomaly when it comes to housing development, but not immune from the skyrocketing mortgage and rental rates. There seems to be a disconnect with the data somewhere.
Fairweather says homebuilders built fewer homes in the decade starting in 2010 than in any 10-year period since the 1960’s. “So, I think it’s going to take at least another decade to dig ourselves out of this hole.” Counties, Townships and States are changing the zoning laws permitting smaller, more affordable homes built closer together is a proposed solution. We see that in Lakewood, but at the lower end like Section 8 you have to apply and get on a long list that could take years for you to finally move in someplace. Someplace likely that is not in the area you need to be in and too small for a growing family. Even HUD mortgage rates are becoming unaffordable.
When more people are renting (when they would rather own) it keeps the demand and prices up in both markets. “Rents are going up just as fast as home prices are,” says Fairweather.
The rising demand for rentals from people who would rather buy is projected to continue and get even worse. While mortgage applications are 21% lower than a year ago, rising interest rates are pushing people who would rather buy, out of the market.
The Redfin report only tracks asking prices for vacant units that are available to rent. That doesn’t mean that current renters are seeing their rent go up by a lot. Dollar numbers and availability in some cities may be at the higher end because the report misses some private home landlord listings which make up a fair segment of Lakewood rentals.
The government’s own consumer price data shows that the average rent Americans actually pay now and not the price of new listings zoomed to 4.8% in the past year, much higher than usual.
Actually many HUD tenants are seeing huge rent increases and most of it is coming out of the tenants (empty) pockets. Those that need it most are hurting the most. The landlords can get the rent they request because the going rate is so high. If they won’t get it from their current tenant they can get it from a non HUD tenant. That leaves current tenants with no options. They are being sqeezed from all sides. Landlords have a right to ask for a raise but, in my opinion, what is wrong with asking for a $200 raise rather than $1000?
Bidenflation.
The schools have to stop with the huge increases in tuition, to get things manageable.
With grocery shipping you have an option to cut back on what you buy, but you can’t take your daughter out of a school just because her school is raising her tuition.
To Yaakov
Please explain how the schools should retain their teachers without tuition increases . Teachers are not willing to work without large salary increases. They will leave your child’s school to either work on a business or to teach in a school with a wealthier patent body that is willing to pay them more. So while I agree that the tzibur should increase their funding of teachers salaries and we should do to teachers what we are doing for Adirei, until that happens the schools have no choice. Teachers were not willing to work for low salaries even gefire the recent high inflation, and certainly now.
This is the establishment covering up for wealthy greedy developers taking advantage if the easy victims low income learning temimsdika yungerlite any reason u tell them things r going up that think is is true
The one and only reason rent is going up is because the greedy landlord COULD!!
No other reason
Huge tax abatements given to yeshivas, congregations and businesses for development impact the how and why of local property taxes in Lkwd. Someone has to pick up the slack and it is the private property owners who pay the taxes of larger entities who receive gracious and generous tax abatements that can last for years.
Lakewood will follow market value. This is a general trend… not a market by market change. If mortgage rates go up… they go up nationwide based on supply and demand. Rentals are slightly more market specific… but do still reflect national trends. As such…. development in Lakewood does not change the nationwide trend. Also… growth in Lakewood outpaces development… so it is still all true in Lakewood as well.
I am puzled by the first line of the article? Why do you say development in Lakewood is booming? Hardly any apartments were built in decades, and the number of new houses built per year hasn’t risen much even as Lakewood has become the destination for frum Jews in the U.S.A.
The writer must have read the thousands of comments about it on TLS.
The development building activity that’s going on now is all old stuff; for example they started building semi attached homes 5 years ago of which the early ones sold for $485,000; today the last ones of the same size & stuff are selling for $1,100,000 ; the builders bought that land years ago; Today they ain’t paying those land prices, and no way can they pay the new crazy high prices for materials and labor on top of that, they’ll go bankrupt. All over town there are homes with cut utility wires sitting or lots that had already been cleared but no shovel goes into the ground.
As a result of this chasidim and other yiddin are moving all over the US: Indiana, Florida, Texas, Arizona etc. it’s safer and it’s good for everyone.