Soaring rent prices lead people to buy homes rather than pay rent
GREEN BAY, Wis. (WBAY) - The national average for rent prices just hit another record high, now leading many to think about buying in Wisconsin rather than renting.
“Any time that prices, go up it’s because they can,” real estate agent at Dallaire Realty, Judd Gehl, emphasized. “People who own property see that they can get more money for rent and they’re taking advantage of it.”
As we’ve reported before, 2022 has been an extremely expensive year for renters.
Related: Local home owner and realtor impacted by rental rates up, up and away
In Appleton, Rent.com reported a 121% average price increase for three bedroom apartments compared to last year. Still, experts say people from outside the area are being drawn to a lower cost of living here.
“People are now moving into the area because they determined that they could do their job from anywhere in the country because their company became equipped to do that,” Gehl said. “Green Bay has a good median house price. So, they’re finding themselves in California or Texas and seeing that they can buy a home for a lot less money and live in a much safer community.”
Considering the historic inflation, rent has now become one of the biggest pressures on household finances. Leading people to find new solutions.
“The number one thing that we hear from first-time home buyers is that they need to buy a home so they can get out from the rent because their rent prices continue to increase,” Gehl highlighted.
In the Green Bay metro area the median rent downtown is $916 according to Stessa, an accounting software company for rental properties. Downtown studios in Green Bay cost about 34% more than they did in 2021.
“With rent being where it is, owning a home is still obviously a great opportunity to build that equity instead of helping a landlord build their equity,” broker and owner of Dallaire Realty, Greg Dallaire, shared.
For those feeling the pinch, experts say unfortunately rising rent prices show no sign of slowing down.
Copyright 2022 WBAY. All rights reserved.
