I’m going into light hibernation starting this week, but Igor has strict instructions to wake me up fast if MuniMae pops its head out of the rabbit-hole again. Last week saw the big Black Thursday shocks to the Subprime market, and Doom will be following the grownups as they move to contain the damage over the next days. Twist already has two important articles up, and I’m off to hear some poetry, maybe even poetry about housing.
Your rent is rising faster than your paycheck. A new report this morning shows Valley renters will pay 5.4 percent more this year, to $785 a month.That monthly rent is just about equal to the average weekly paycheck of $794 in Maricopa County. But wages are rising just 4 percent a year, and on top of that, consumers are already dealing with rising energy prices and soaring health care bills.
With vacancy rates projected to fall below 5 percent for the first time in years, renters won’t see many give-backs from their landlords this year, according to real estate brokerage Marcus & Millichap.
But renting is looking more attractive to people priced out of the housing market. The latest forecast shows one paycheck will cover the rent; you would need at least two paychecks to cover the median monthly mortgage payment of $1,300.
