The Ups and Downs of Pandemic Rents
Looking back on the early-pandemic rental market is strange. It’s hard at this point, more than two years out, to fully wrap your head around the deep uncertainty/general madness that ensued. Housing advocates sounded the alarm on potential mass evictions as people lost their jobs; eviction bans, mutual aid, and rental assistance stepped in as stop-gap measures (regardless,
homelessness continued to rise drastically).
As people left major coastal cities in search of space, apartment buildings drastically lowered prices in hopes of luring new renters in.
Pandemic pricing meant some folks were able to
find or negotiate significantly lower rent prices, sometimes locking them in for longer-term leases. I personally know a few folks who were able to move into larger places (say, to accommodate working from home with a SO) thanks to those lower rates.
But without any real price controls (other than what the market will “tolerate”), many landlords are hiking rents way back up. Take my friend KC (@thecasaverde), for example. She and her roommates had to
move out of their Brooklyn apartment after their landlord raised the rent by $1500. Assuming an even split, that would have been an additional $500 per person, per month.
Rent rates in DC rose about 9% over last year, according to
Apartment List, but
DCist spoke to several folks whose rents rose by 20% or more. In Manhattan, about 44 percent of the available units right now are available because tenants who leased them in 2020 and 2021 can no longer afford the new, higher rents (
source). Basically, it’s kind of a shitty time to be a renter. But don’t worry, it’s also a shitty time to be a prospective homebuyer, with interest rates near 6%. 🙃
Are landlords actually just recouping lost pandemic income? Maybe. There was a lot of money flying around with the Cares Act, so it’s not like there weren’t options available for landlords who lost tenants.
Really, this is yet another symptom of our country not having enough homes in the places where people want and need them. I know more than a few renters who literally gave up on trying to buy a home amid insane bidding wars and record-low inventory.
What about rent control?
Okay, so what if landlords weren’t allowed to just jack up rent by like 50%? Rent control is one of those topics where economists and housing advocates regularly butt heads, with some saying it
makes affordability worse in the long run and others arguing it’s an important tool for
preventing displacement.
I think both are probably true, especially if we aren’t dramatically increasing the number of homes every year. And I also still think rent control/stabilization policies are a good and necessary part of our housing markets right now.
What’s going to happen?
That was a lot of doom and gloom!! Sorry!! Honestly, the situation is going to be pretty dire until we have more homes. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about ways that I can shed a little more hope in these newsletters because I know it can all feel like a lot.
At the end of the day, most of us are regular folks who may not have direct involvement with housing policy work. But you know what? Because of the way land use is governed in this country, regular people actually have a lot of power!
If you have time and want to attend local zoning board meetings or even just watch replays on your local government’s website, those are real ways to dip your toe into housing advocacy. If not, that’s okay. I think just by being here and learning a little bit more about what’s going on, you’re doing something.
That may not be the most shining beacon of hope, but perhaps it’s a start. 🤗
