According to a new report by Lending Tree, 48 percent of American renters don’t believe they will ever be able to purchase a home due to rising home prices and stagnant wages. Saving for a down payment is the number one obstacle facing renters, according to the study.
76 percent of the renters polled said they would like to be able to own a home, if possible. Low credit scores are also a concern.
The U.S. Treasury disbursed $25 billion to states for rental assistance in February. Congress then allocated another $21 billion in March. By the first of June only $1.5 billion of that money had actually reached renters – a total of 176,000 households.
With the federal moratorium on evictions set to expire at the end of July, a huge number of renters could be facing eviction. It is estimated that 11.5 million or 16% of all renters have fallen behind on their payments.
The current pandemic and economic upheaval combined with the ongoing housing crisis has created a situation for all bay Area renters, with low to moderate-income families suffering the most.
To afford a median-priced, two-bedroom apartment a Bay Area worker needs to earn $43 an hour in Alameda and Contra Costa counties, $57 an hour in Santa Clara County, and $64 an hour in San Francisco, and Marin and San Mateo counties. Conversely, a minimum-wage worker ($13/hr) would need to work 114 hours per week just to meet ends meet.
It is estimated that 45 percent of California residents are renters.
As the number of unemployment claims keeps rising – 44 million since mid-March – the Aspen Institute estimates that 23 million renters could be evicted by September.
Evictions are expected to increase dramatically in the coming months as financial support and prohibitions on evictions come to an end.
Black and Latinx renters are likely to be at higher risk according to analysts.