“More people are opting to live alone, and rising mortgage-interest rates are forcing would-be homebuyers to keep renting,” said Redfin deputy chief economist Taylor Marr. “These are among the demand-side pressures keeping rents sky-high. While renting has become more expensive, it is now more attractive than buying for many Americans this year as mortgage payments have surpassed rents on many homes. Although we expect rent-price growth to continue to slow in the coming months, it will likely remain high, causing ongoing affordability issues for renters.”

In some cities around the country, rent is up over 30%. Nashville, Seattle, and Cincinnati all saw 30% increases while Austin, Texas saw a whopping 48% increase. According to Redfin, this is the largest increase for any metro area since the data started getting collected in 2019. 

The top 10 metro areas with the fastest-rising rents year over year were Austin at number 1, followed by Nashville, TN; Seattle, WA; Cincinnati, OH and Miami, FL to round out the top 5. Fort Lauderdale, FL; West Palm Beach, FL; New York, NY; Nassau County, NJ and then New Brunswick, NJ finished off the top 10. 

The rent growth in Portland, OR fell below 30% for the first time since the beginning of the year which caused it to drop out of the top 10. Only three of the 50 most populous metro areas saw rents decline in May from the year prior. In Milwaukee, WI, rent fell 10% while Kansas City, MO and Minneapolis, MN saw a decrease of 3%. All three metro areas also saw decline in rent in April too.

Closer to home, the median monthly rent in Charlotte is a little over $1,800 a month in May. That is 8.7% higher than the same time a year before.

An indicator of affordable rent is if someone is able to spend no more than 30% of their income on housing. In order to be able to afford rent in the Queen City, that would mean a person would have to make about $73,000 a year.

The housing market having low inventory and increasing interest rates makes renting less expensive than buying for most. Currently Charlotte has about 81,000 units that are considered affordable. However, according to officials in the city, Charlotte needs an additional 32,000 available units in order to meet the demands.

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