Phoenix sees highest rent paid hike in country this year
Dec 29, 2019, 4:25 AM | Updated: 4:55 pm
PHOENIX – Renters in the Valley saw a bit less in their wallet this year as an analysis by Zillow revealed Phoenix had a 7.5% rent paid increase in 2019, the highest in the country.
The next highest increase was Las Vegas at 5.6%.
The $7.8 billion spent on rent in Arizona in 2019 is part of $63.6 billion spent over the decade, according to the report.
The data is part of the real estate and rental marketplace’s look at what renters spent across the United States in the 2010’s.
Rent paid in Phoenix, now the fifth-largest city in the U.S., raised by 60.4% over the past ten years.
This puts the Valley in line with cities like Miami, Minneapolis, Houston, Kansas City and San Jose, California, according to the report.
However, Zillow believes relief could be on the way.
“While the total amount of rent paid has increased each year this decade, that trend is by no means immutable,” Zillow group economist Joshua Clark said. “With rental appreciation expected to decrease in the coming year and a homeownership rate that has been ticking up over the past few years, a small or even negative change in total rental spending could be in the cards in the early 2020s.”
Only seven of the 50 cities listed saw a rent paid decrease this year, none of which are located on the west coast.
After being known as a relatively cheap place to live, the recent rising rent costs are causing issues for residents of the desert.
The National Low Income Housing Coalition says a person must earn nearly $20 an hour to afford an average two-bedroom apartment in the Valley.
The average Arizona renter earns about $17 an hour.
Rent prices aren’t just increasing in Phoenix, the tide is rising across the country.
The current median rent in the U.S. is $1,600 per month, up 2.3% from 2018. Renters spent a combined $512 billion in 2019, the most of any year in the decade, according to the report.
The report found renters spent $4.5 trillion on housing in the decade.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.