10 Cities Where Rents Are Rising The Most

10 Cities Where Rents Are Rising The Most

Source: U.S. News & World Report | May 11, 2011

It's not usually welcome news when the landlord hikes your rent. But a surge in rents this year represents a counterintuitive bit of good news for the economy and perhaps even for the beleaguered housing market. Like home prices, rents fell nearly everywhere during the recession, as millions of people moved in with parents or found roommates to cut their housing costs. But with the gradual improvement in the job market and the overall economy, grown kids are finally waving goodbye to their parents and many others are moving into a place of their own. That's pushing high vacancy rates back down, toward levels they were at before the recession - and sending rents back up. Research firm REIS estimates that rents will rise an average of 3.6 percent in 2011. Eventually, higher rents could turn many tenants into buyers, since purchasing a home will start to seem like a bargain compared with sending a monthly check to a landlord. So rising rents today could signal a pickup in home purchases in the near future. Here's where rents are likely to rise by the most in 2011, according to REIS. [Read this article]