NYT: In Many Cities, Rent Is Rising Out of Reach of Middle Class

[Mursilis]

Nobody is entitled to a 2 minute commute, super cheap nice housing, and low gas prices. Sorry, but that is how it is.

While that may be true, that's not going to stop people from thinking they're entitled to cheap housing regardless, and it's certainly not going to stop politicians from creating expectations of the same.

 

[fskimospy]

This isn't a bad thing. Having mega-cities like New York is stupid in this day and age. Telework and internet connectivity can and should more equally distribute worker populations across the country, and especially drive employers to areas that are less policitically stupid and more accomdative to businesses than NYC. Unless it's an absolute requirement to have an onsite presence somewhere (like a hospital) setting up shop in NYC is simply stupid from both an individual or employer basis.

Man do you hate New York, haha.

Interestingly, UBS tried to put this into practice a few years back and moved out of NYC. They are now in the process of moving back because they had a lot of trouble attracting talent. Rents are insanely high here because the market seems to think that a meg city like NYC is an incredibly desirable place to be.

Additionally, mega cities are dramatically more efficient than many smaller cities.

 

[Exterous]

From what I have seen this is more slow apartment response to pent up demand. New apartment construction basically stopped in many large cities during the recession and its pretty risky to buy a large building to make an apartment complex in a large city so many were hesitant to do so when the market started recovering. Many cities, like Portland, Miami, Seattle etc are seeing massive surges in apartment construction.

It certainly doesn't help that in 2012 cities grew faster than suburbs for the first time in 80 years. A trend which continued in 2013.

So pent up demand + unexpected customer growth + long building times + expensive initial investment = higher prices.

I would expect that this will equalize in 2 years or so unless the population of cities unexpectedly surges

but for whatever reason, my company refuses to embrace it as a policy.

Not saying that this is the situation in your case but, having worked for a company with a massive number of remote workers, it is very difficult to find people who work well for extended periods of time outside the traditional work environment. The percentage of non-work related network traffic over the VPN connections of the remote employees was often 3-4x the traffic of the office workers with the same job

 

[TurtleCrusher]

I'm looking for a place in Portland and damn, the rents are outrageous now.

 

[Nebor]

I'm moving from Dallas to San Antonio and was shocked to find the rental markets roughly equal in cost. I ended up finding a decent place on Broadway for $2900\mo.

 

[dmcowen674]

I'm moving from Dallas to San Antonio and was shocked to find the rental markets roughly equal in cost. I ended up finding a decent place on Broadway for $2900\mo.

Jesus, what the hell job do you have that you can pay $2900 a month just in rent?

Oil?

 

[fskimospy]

Jesus, what the hell job do you have that you can pay $2900 a month just in rent?

Oil?

I sincerely doubt he was being serious, but an apartment in Broadway for only $2,900 would generally be a good deal. They are often much more.

 

[Nebor]

I sincerely doubt he was being serious, but an apartment in Broadway for only $2,900 would generally be a good deal. They are often much more.

I'm talking about San Antonio, not NYC.

 

[Nebor]

Jesus, what the hell job do you have that you can pay $2900 a month just in rent?

Oil?

Human Resources.

 

[dmcowen674]

Originally Posted by dmcowen674
Jesus, what the hell job do you have that you can pay $2900 a month just in rent?

Oil?

Human Resources.

Do they have any money left to pay payroll?

 

[fskimospy]

I'm talking about San Antonio, not NYC.

There's more than one Broadway!? ha!

 

[Nebor]

Originally Posted by dmcowen674
Jesus, what the hell job do you have that you can pay $2900 a month just in rent?

Oil?



Do they have any money left to pay payroll?

As long as I keep axing people they will! It's a special assignment, so it's allotted $3,500 a month for "lodging" and a ton of special duty pay.

 

[hal2kilo]

I'm moving from Dallas to San Antonio and was shocked to find the rental markets roughly equal in cost. I ended up finding a decent place on Broadway for $2900\mo.

Ouch!

 

[Nebor]

Ouch!

Yeah, and I'm moving out of a paid for family property in University Park. On the upside the rent is coming out of a seperate allotment so it's not really out of my pocket.

 

[hal2kilo]

Yeah, and I'm moving out of a paid for family property in University Park. On the upside the rent is coming out of a seperate allotment so it's not really out of my pocket.

Back in 2003 I had a 1100 sq. ft. 2 bedroom apartment in Orange, CA for $1400 a month. I would not be surprised if that same apt. is going for $2400@ month now.

 

[fskimospy]

Back in 2003 I had a 1100 sq. ft. 2 bedroom apartment in Orange, CA for $1400 a month. I would not be surprised if that same apt. is going for $2400@ month now.

Funny, I just checked the rents in Ocean Beach, CA where I used to live. They are higher, but not crazily higher. Go OB!

 

[zephyrprime]

The reason this happened is because of the housing crisis a few years ago. It caused house construction and rental construction to grind to a halt. This has produced a deficit now. Business analysts were already predicting back then that this would be happening now so it is no surprise.

 

[werepossum]

As long as I keep axing people they will! It's a special assignment, so it's allotted $3,500 a month for "lodging" and a ton of special duty pay.

Holy shit, that's roughly six times what my mortgage payment was when I bought my house! Is that HR as in human trafficking? Are you providing Soros and the Koch brothers with hot Thai ladyboys?

 

[zephyrprime]

I'm moving from Dallas to San Antonio and was shocked to find the rental markets roughly equal in cost. I ended up finding a decent place on Broadway for $2900\mo.

That is crazy expensive. How big your your place? Huge?

 

[zephyrprime]

Holy shit, that's roughly six times what my mortgage payment was when I bought my house! Is that HR as in human trafficking? Are you providing Soros and the Koch brothers with hot Thai ladyboys?

The only reason I can see it being so high is because he was staying in a hotel the entire time. Of course, an extended stay hotel would be a lot cheaper.

 

[OverVolt]

Steve Gunn, 25, the marketing director for a Miami real estate brokerage firm, said he could certainly afford an apartment on his salary of $52,500 — if he weren’t paying more than $800 a month in student loan debt. Instead, he commutes 90 minutes to work. From his mother’s house.

Wow...my loans are like $200/mo. Average person whom doesn't have the wind at their back by having good parents will probably owe around $400/mo.

 

[Nebor]

That is crazy expensive. How big your your place? Huge?

Looks like it's 1,654 sq. ft. It's the TH1 Crescent. No one's ever lived in it before, it has real hardwood floors, built in wine chiller, nice appliances, etc.

 

[smackababy]

Looks like it's 1,654 sq. ft. It's the TH1 Crescent. No one's ever lived in it before, it has real hardwood floors, built in wine chiller, nice appliances, etc.

So, your not renting an apartment. You're renting what is essential two apartments on top of each other with a luxury amenities, in a very good location. That is hardly the typical cost of a rental property in San Antonio, as you tried to make it sound.

 

[Nebor]

So, your not renting an apartment. You're renting what is essential two apartments on top of each other with a luxury amenities, in a very good location. That is hardly the typical cost of a rental property in San Antonio, as you tried to make it sound.

My surprise was in finding that such an apartment costs about the same in that area of San Antonio as a similar apartment in Uptown Dallas.

 

[smackababy]

My surprise was in finding that such an apartment costs about the same in that area of San Antonio as a similar apartment in Uptown Dallas.

The cost of living in Dallas and SA are roughly the same though. I think Dallas is a bit higher, but less than 10%.