Atlanta, Houston, Washington, D.C., and Miami are all cities where rental units are cheaper now than they were before the housing slump.
The Web site Rentometer allows you to enter property info and compare your rent to others in the area.
CNNMoney, using Rentometer data, reports:
Many speculators bought properties to "flip," selling them quickly in a
rapidly appreciating market. In some Sun Belt areas, investors bought
condos and other properties while they were still in development, to
sell when a project finished.
Other investors bought existing
single-family homes or other properties, intending to do cosmetic
improvements and then sell them at a profit. But before they could do
that, the slump hit, and home values dropped. Instead of selling at a
loss, investors of all stripes are now renting them out.
Of the
10 areas sampled by
Rentometer, Atlanta and Houston rents declined the
most, plunging 12.8 percent for the year. Median monthly rent for all
rentals in Atlanta is now $884, and in Houston it's $779.
The
New York metro area had the highest median monthly rent in 2007, at
$1,729, and it posted the biggest increase of 12.8 percent. San
Francisco, where it grew 8.5 percent to $1,685, and Boston, where it
rose 6.8 percent to $1,528, also had strong years.
San Francisco
and New York are examples where Johnson said "massive demand" more than
offset increased supply. These cities compete in a "global market," he
said, and, by world standards, they're still relatively inexpensive for
foreign currency-based consumers taking advantage of a weak dollar.
Other cities reporting big declines included Washington (11.8 percent), Miami (9 percent) and Phoenix (7.3 percent).
