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Housing Costs Rising Faster than Inflation |
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Housing Costs:
Graph of How Housing Costs Rise
Faster Than Inflation |
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In the five years 1999 through 2004, rental price of primary residences rose by 19% the consumer price index (CPI-U) rose by only 13%. (Econ. Report of the Pres. tables B60,61.) As the National Low Income Coalition explains: "There is nothing on the horizon to cause us to think that rents will not continue to rise. Indeed, the loss of modest rental housing stock continues, as market forces drive up the cost of housing and government fails to intervene to level the playing field."
Using the widely accepted standard of affordability (no more than 30% of household income ), the hourly wage that a worker must earn in order to afford the fair market rent for a two bedroom apartment has risen by 37% from 1999 to 2003 (NLIHC).
The rise in rental housing costs disproportionately affects low-income families, which typically rent rather than own their homes. The median income of a renter household in 2001 was barely more than half of that of an owner-occupied household ($26,848 vs. $50,505), according to the 2001 American Housing Survey.
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Keywords: Housing Costs, Inflation
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http://zfacts.com/p/702.html | 01/18/12 07:28 GMT
Modified: Mon, 17 Apr 2006 20:09:34 GMT
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