Being a renter isn't getting any easier: A record number of renters now pay more than half their income for housing, according to a new report from the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS).
Here's what's happening: Falling homeownership rates mean more people have to or choose to rent, and that's putting upward pressure on occupancy rates. That gives landlords an option they haven't had for years: raise rents. At the same time, renters are earning less money, putting more pressure on the working and middle class Americans. The report says that one in four renters, or 10.1 million households, spend more than half their income on rent and utilities. Another quarter of renters, 26.2 percent, spend 30 to 50 percent of their income on rent and utilities.
Are you a renter feeling the pressure? Finding any rent deals out there?
