Here's what $2,000 in rent gets you in Philadelphia
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A monthly rent of $2,000 can get you a 935-square-foot apartment in the Philly metro.
Why it matters: That's 168 square feet smaller than the national estimate of 1,103, per a new Redfin report.
The big picture: Across the country, renters with that budget can afford 70 more square feet than they could in 2022, when rents peaked — enough for a small office, according to Redfin.
- Brand-new apartments flooded the market over the past few years, helping to slow rent hikes.
Zoom in: Philadelphia renters are seeing relief thanks to a surge of new apartment units in 2024, with more than 13,000 units expected to have been delivered last year, per a RealPage analysis.
- But rental prices have jumped in parts of nearby New Jersey and Delaware, because of a lack of inventory that has driven up competition.
What they're saying: "Renters are getting more bang for their buck than they were during the pandemic because asking rents have since stabilized below their record high and incomes have continued to climb," Redfin senior economist Sheharyar Bokhari wrote in the report.
Between the lines: The median asking rent, or the cost of a new lease, was recently $1,840 in the Philly area and $1,615 nationwide, per the report.
- Researchers analyzed apartments in buildings with five or more units that were listed on Redfin.com or Rent.com between last August and October.
Reality check: Many are pouring money into rent.
- Over a quarter of U.S. renters spend more than half of their income on housing, census data shows.
What we're watching: As people postpone home purchases, increased apartment demand and less apartment construction pave the way for higher rents.