Here’s a delightful story for everyone out there that’s cheering on huge “price gains” in real estate and rooting for rents to climb.
The King County Housing Authority, which recently reopened its waiting list for rental assistance for poor residents, received 11,778 applications in a two-week period — an all-time high for the agency.
That is a 74 percent increase over the number of applications received when the waiting list was last reopened in June 2002, housing authority officials said.
…
Housing officials say the high demand reflects a countywide shortage of affordable housing.
…
A recent Seattle P-I analysis revealed that in King and Snohomish counties — the state’s most prosperous region — nearly 300,000 people live in poverty even though at least one family member works full time.“This reflects the hard reality that housing costs continue to significantly surpass incomes, including wages,” Norman said.
As long as home prices keep going up and up, everything’s dandy, right? I mean, who cares about working class people being able to afford a roof over their heads? Yes, I’ve talked about this at length in the past, and apparently the problem has only gotten worse since then. Shocking!
(Debera Carlton Harrell, Seattle P-I, 05.25.2006)
Update: Speaking of people rooting for rents to climb… Just after I posted this I stumbled upon a relevant post over at the P-I’s Seattle Real Estate Professionals blog. Here are some choice quotes:
It’s true, Zag11, that rents have not kept up with purchase prices for homes and condos, so rentals represent a better bargain right now — IF you don’t count appreciation. And since appreciation isn’t guaranteed, it shouldn’t be counted when calculating one’s monthly expenses.
…
Since the housing market is cyclical and rents are extremely low compared to mortgage payments, that part of the cycle is due for what we laughingly call a “correction.” I’m sure you’re feeling that your rent needs to be “corrected.”
…
Say you jump right in and snag that 2k a month condo. As rents begin to rise, your payment starts to seem not-so-out-of-line. Before you know it, your payment starts to seem downright cheap when you see what your friends’ newly inflated rent payments are and note that their money goes to line their landlord’s pocket, while you’ve been raising your net worth with every payment.
…
All of this makes now a good time to buy — before rents go up — because housing prices will likely be higher then too. This assumes that it is not excessively burdensome for you to make the seemingly-large-at-the-moment payment. Stretching your budget to buy a home = good. Breaking the bank, putting yourself in financial peril, risking bankruptcy with the slightest decrease in your income = very very not good.
You heard it folks, straight from the real estate professional. Rents are going to experience a 200-300% upward correction “before you know it.”
(Susan Ryan, Seattle Real Estate Professionals, 05.24.2006)