Phoenix renters spent $7.5B on housing this year

PHOENIX — Phoenix residents spent $7.5 billion on rent this year, a $603 million increase from last year, according to a real estate website.

HotPads said the number of households renting homes in Phoenix this year increased by 18,000 from 2017 to reach a total of 625,000.

The median rent in metro Phoenix, the website said, is $1,495 per month, a 6.2 percent increase from last year.

Nationwide, renters spent $12.6 billion more on rent than last year, totaling $504 billion for 2018.

The U.S. median rent rose 3 percent this year to $1,475, still far cheaper than San Jose’s fourth-quarter median rent of more than $3,700.

The New York City metro area saw the most money spent on rent at $55.6 billion, but rent growth is slowing there and only increased by 1 percent this year.

“After several years of a booming economy, more millennials became financially able to become homeowners in 2018,” HotPads economist Joshua Clark said in a press release.

“However, rent affordability continues to be a challenge, as those who still rent are paying even higher prices now than they were a year ago.”

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