SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - While it might not be the best time to own a home, a new report suggests renting isn’t exactly a good option either. Homeowners are fretting about the crumbling value of their houses, and a survey being released today shows renters in the West are having to write bigger checks to pay for their leases. The average apartment rent through March rose from the previous year in all 19 major Western markets surveyed by the research firm RealFacts. The increases range from less than one percent in Reno, Nevada, to more than nine percent in the San Francisco Bay area and Salt Lake City. Some analysts theorize that landlords have been able to boost rents because more people are losing their homes to foreclosures and have to find somewhere else to live. But the survey doesn’t back that up. It finds no general increase in demand for apartments.
Filed under: National News
