SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - It's not easy to rent in San Diego, and it doesn't look like it will be anytime soon.
San Diego renters would need a $648 boost to their annual income in order to keep up with predicted rental rates in the future, according to a new report from Zillow. The current median rental rate is about $2,452 a month. Over the next year, the real estate website predicts that rate could jump $54, to $2,506 a month.
Nationally, income would need to rise just $168 a year in order to maintain current disposable income after paying rent. Zillow said rental rates are predicted to rise one percent over the next year.
While the jump is excessive, perhaps there's a silver lining. It's not the worst jump in the country.
Seattle ($1,248/month), Los Angeles ($1,152/month), Boston ($1,140/month), Sacramento ($792/month), and Orlando, Fla., ($672/month) topped the list of needed income increases.
Surprisingly, San Francisco, where the search for affordable housing is especially problematic, does not need any increase in annual income to keep up with predicted rates. New York, Chicago, Pittsburgh, and Houston were also listed as metropolitans that will not need a rise in income.
"For a long time now, renters have faced an affordability crisis when it comes to housing, and renters in some hot markets will still need significant raises just to keep up with rising rents," Zillow Chief Economist Dr. Svenja Gudell said in the release. "Incomes have a ways to go to bring rental affordability closer to historical levels, but recent gains are being met with slowing rent appreciation, a welcome sign for renters."
Zillow noted that in many major metropolitan areas the share of income needed to pay rent already surpasses the rule of not spending more than 30 percent of income on housing.
