Cheap apartments are getting harder to find in Ohio
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It's getting harder to find an apartment priced under $1,000 a month in Ohio.
By the numbers: Over the past decade, units renting for under $1,000 a month (adjusted for inflation) fell by around 30% across the country, per a report by Harvard's Joint Center for Housing Studies.
- Meanwhile, a building boom focused on upscale apartments helped nearly triple the number of units costing at least $2,000 a month.
Between the lines: Many of those cheaper apartments are older, and a slowdown in construction after the Great Recession has led to an overall shortage of housing.
Zoom in: Cleveland and its inner-ring suburbs remain relatively friendly to renters, with median rents below $1,200, per a countywide housing study released last month.
Yes, but: Nearly 44% of renters countywide are cost-burdened, meaning they spend 30% or more of their annual income on rent.
State of play: Homebuying is out of reach for many. More people are renting, which has kept rents high even as hikes ease.
- Add to that high prices for land, building materials and labor. "To be profitable, most of these [new] units must command steep rents," researchers wrote in the report.
Reality check: The surge in high-end apartments can still benefit lower-income renters, the researchers noted.
- For one, areas with lots of new construction over the past few years, particularly in the South and West, saw rent increases slow or outright decline. Rents in the Triangle have stabilized after skyrocketing during the early years of the pandemic.
- And when higher earners move up, older, cheaper units may become available.