Increase in rents slows in March

[McFurd]

Consumer Affairs - 4/3/2017 - Mark Huffman - But renters still face challenges in the months ahead. If you were looking for a home or apartment to rent last month, there wasn't a lot of good news. Overall, the rate of rent increases slowed a bit, to 2.4% year-over-year, and some markets actually saw rents go down. Unfortunately, the markets where rent costs declined are already some of the most expensive rental markets in the nation. At the same time, some relatively low rent areas saw big increases. Not surprisingly, these communities are on the outskirts of the nation's most expensive markets. Renters who couldn't afford the cost of renting a home in the city simply moved to the suburbs, pushing up demand -- and costs. In its latest rent report, Apartment List found that the increase in rent nationally slowed from 1% in February to 0.4% in March. While that might sound encouraging if you're a renter, it really isn't. https://www.consumeraffairs.com/news/in ... 40317.html