Renting on the rise in Erie County
Walaa
and Ahmed Ahmed dream of one day owning a home of their own. But the
Ahmeds -- she's 27 and he's 29 -- are putting off house-hunting for now.
Walaa Ahmed, who is the assistant director for administration at the
Quality of Life Learning Center, said they're not likely to buy until
her husband completes his engineering degree at Penn State Behrend. "We
were thinking about finding a house, but we didn't want to put ourselves
in a mortgage," she said. "He is working on his engineering degree and
thinking about going to a big city. We don't want to buy a house until
we know where we are going."
Like a growing group of Americans, the Ahmeds are renting instead of buying -- part of an ongoing demographic shift that saw the share of renters in Erie County peak in 2012 at 34.56 percent.
That trend is far more pronounced in certain portions of the county.
In Erie County, the greatest concentration of renters can be found in the college town of Edinboro, where 59.4 percent of people rent, according to the 2010 U.S. Census.
Renting is also on the rise in the city of Erie, where the share of people living in rented properties has grown from 39.8 percent in 1990 to 45.7 percent in 2010.
Although the share of renters in Erie County fell in 2013, the broader trend continues to point to fewer homeowners.
In a November report, the National Association of Realtors said the share of first-time buyers fell to its lowest level in nearly three decades, despite an improving job market and low interest rates.
The growing number of renters has made rental properties difficult to find in some markets. In Erie County, the rental vacancy rate has slid from a high of 11 percent in 2007 to 6 percent in 2013, according to the American Community Survey, conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau.
The issue is even more pronounced in some large cities. In fact, nine of the 11 largest U.S. cities have seen falling vacancy rents and rising rents, putting the price of monthly rent out of reach for many low- and middle-income renters, according to the National Affordable Rental Housing Landscape study.
Some of those same trends appear to be playing out in our own backyard.
Since 2005, the vacancy rate for Erie County rental properties has been declining, falling from 8.07 percent in 2005 to 6.03 percent in 2013, according to statistics from the American Community Survey.
During that same period, rents have generally been rising. In 2013, the median monthly rent in Erie County jumped 4.65 percent, compared with an increase of just 0.5 percent nationally.
Perhaps more significantly, the amount that renters in Erie County pay as a percentage of their total income also has been rising, climbing from 16.67 percent in 2005 to 18.88 percent in 2013.
This gradual shift away from homeownership and toward renting is moving at a modest pace, but Bridget Hammar, who works in the enrollment office of a local college, can attest to a dramatic change since she and her ex-husband bought their first home in 1977.
Hammar, who lived with her parents until she was 24, said she was able to make a $10,000 down payment on a $40,000 house.
Hammar, who spends her days surrounded by young people, said she doesn't see many of them in a position to do the same.
"I think there is still a priority that people would love to own a home and not rent," she said. "But in this day and age, loans are killing college students. They are worried about having to start paying it back. It doesn't matter where somebody graduates from, they are going to have debt."
Hammar said she believes an inability to scrape up a down payment is holding back many prospective buyers, including two of her sons.
Veronica Fields, housing counseling director for the St. Martin Center in Erie, attributes the shift away from homeownership to the increased difficulty of getting a mortgage.
After the financial crisis that began in 2008, "the requirements have changed for lenders," she said. "They are under the microscope, and they have to be accountable."
That means tougher requirements for prospective homebuyers. Ultimately, she said, it means more people wind up living in a house or apartment owned by someone else.
As someone who has both owned and rented homes, Hammar, 61, finds the trend unfortunate.
When you own a house, "You have something in the end," she said. "You own something. It makes you feel good."
Like a growing group of Americans, the Ahmeds are renting instead of buying -- part of an ongoing demographic shift that saw the share of renters in Erie County peak in 2012 at 34.56 percent.
That trend is far more pronounced in certain portions of the county.
In Erie County, the greatest concentration of renters can be found in the college town of Edinboro, where 59.4 percent of people rent, according to the 2010 U.S. Census.
Renting is also on the rise in the city of Erie, where the share of people living in rented properties has grown from 39.8 percent in 1990 to 45.7 percent in 2010.
Although the share of renters in Erie County fell in 2013, the broader trend continues to point to fewer homeowners.
In a November report, the National Association of Realtors said the share of first-time buyers fell to its lowest level in nearly three decades, despite an improving job market and low interest rates.
The growing number of renters has made rental properties difficult to find in some markets. In Erie County, the rental vacancy rate has slid from a high of 11 percent in 2007 to 6 percent in 2013, according to the American Community Survey, conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau.
The issue is even more pronounced in some large cities. In fact, nine of the 11 largest U.S. cities have seen falling vacancy rents and rising rents, putting the price of monthly rent out of reach for many low- and middle-income renters, according to the National Affordable Rental Housing Landscape study.
Some of those same trends appear to be playing out in our own backyard.
Since 2005, the vacancy rate for Erie County rental properties has been declining, falling from 8.07 percent in 2005 to 6.03 percent in 2013, according to statistics from the American Community Survey.
During that same period, rents have generally been rising. In 2013, the median monthly rent in Erie County jumped 4.65 percent, compared with an increase of just 0.5 percent nationally.
Perhaps more significantly, the amount that renters in Erie County pay as a percentage of their total income also has been rising, climbing from 16.67 percent in 2005 to 18.88 percent in 2013.
This gradual shift away from homeownership and toward renting is moving at a modest pace, but Bridget Hammar, who works in the enrollment office of a local college, can attest to a dramatic change since she and her ex-husband bought their first home in 1977.
Hammar, who lived with her parents until she was 24, said she was able to make a $10,000 down payment on a $40,000 house.
Hammar, who spends her days surrounded by young people, said she doesn't see many of them in a position to do the same.
"I think there is still a priority that people would love to own a home and not rent," she said. "But in this day and age, loans are killing college students. They are worried about having to start paying it back. It doesn't matter where somebody graduates from, they are going to have debt."
Hammar said she believes an inability to scrape up a down payment is holding back many prospective buyers, including two of her sons.
Veronica Fields, housing counseling director for the St. Martin Center in Erie, attributes the shift away from homeownership to the increased difficulty of getting a mortgage.
After the financial crisis that began in 2008, "the requirements have changed for lenders," she said. "They are under the microscope, and they have to be accountable."
That means tougher requirements for prospective homebuyers. Ultimately, she said, it means more people wind up living in a house or apartment owned by someone else.
As someone who has both owned and rented homes, Hammar, 61, finds the trend unfortunate.
When you own a house, "You have something in the end," she said. "You own something. It makes you feel good."
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