Rich, Educated Drive Up Rents

National + Weekender | October 6, 2017

The majority of large U.S. metros saw an increase in the share of households that rented their homes, even as the economy continued to recover after the Great Recession. This trend was primarily driven by a rise in higher-income and highly-educated households choosing to rent, according to the “2017 National Rental Housing Landscape” report by NYU Furman Center.

NYU Furman Center’s Sewin Chan says, “We’re seeing a shift in the composition of renter households in the nation’s large metro areas. As renting a home becomes a more popular option among those with higher education levels and higher incomes, median renter income has also risen.”

Between 2012 and 2015, the renter share rose by 1.2 percentage points among households with incomes above 120% of their metro’s area median income, while the renter share remained about the same among households with income below 50% of their metro’s area median income.

Renters today spend much more of their income on housing costs than in previous decades. Nationally, 46% of households were rent burdened in 2015, compared with 36% in 2000, and just 25% in 1970. The national trend for severely rent burdened households followed a similar pattern.

Chan also points out, “The rise in higher-income renter households may mask the significant housing affordability challenges faced by lower-income renter households, who are both struggling to pay rent and have fewer affordable options if they need to move.”

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About Dennis Kaiser

Dennis Kaiser is Vice President of Public Relations and Communications for Connect Creative. Dennis is a communications leader with more than 40 years of experience including as a journalist and in corporate and agency marketing communications roles. He is responsible for Connect Creative’s agency client services and is involved in a range of initiatives ranging from public relations and content strategy, communications and message development, copywriting, media relations, social media and content marketing services. Prior to joining Connect Media in 2015, his most recent corporate communications roles involved leading a regional public relations effort across Southern California for CBRE, playing a key marketing role on JLL’s national retail team, and directing the global public relations effort at ValleyCrest (BrightView), the nation’s largest commercial landscape services company. He has worked on marketing communications assignments for such CRE companies as Blackstone/Equity Office, Carlyle, Caruso, Disney Resorts, GE Capital, Irvine Company, Hines, Howard Hughes Corp., Jeffries, Lennar, MGM, Marcus & Millichap, Prologis, Raleigh Studios, Simon, Starwood, Trammell Crow Company, Transamerica, UBS and Wynn Resorts. Dennis has also worked on communications and launch strategies for a number of consumer electronic, media and tech brands including SlingMedia, Channel Master, Deluxe Media Entertainment, BeIn Sports, EchoStar and Sprint. Dennis’s agency background included firms such as Off Madison Ave., Idea Hall and Macy + Associates. He has earned an outstanding reputation with organization leaders as a trusted advisor, strategic program implementer, consensus builder and exceptional collaborator. Dennis has developed and managed national communications programs for Fortune 500 companies to start-ups, both public and private. He’s successfully worked with journalists across the globe representing clients involved in major-breaking news stories, product launches, media tours, and company news announcements. Dennis has been involved in a host of charitable and community organizations including the American Cancer Society, Easter Seals, Boy Scouts, Chrysalis Foundation, Freedom For Life, HOLA, L.A.’s BEST, Reach Out and Read, Super Bowl Host Committee, and the Thunderbirds Charities.

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