09 August 2013

The High Cost of Housing: Rent Going Up

From today's Anchorage Daily News:
The state Department of Labor and Alaska Housing Finance Corp. released a report Thursday confirming something that just about any Craigslist-perusing apartment hunter could tell you: in Alaska, and in Anchorage especially, rental housing is getting more expensive.

Median rent prices in the state's major population centers rose 5 percent over last year, according to the report, to $1,119 from $1,065, or a statewide increase of $54.

... Those figures include utility costs.

Anchorage's rents, at $1,154, were the second-highest out of the 10 areas in Alaska surveyed, behind only the Kodiak Island Island Borough. That's about $50 more than last year in Anchorage, or a 4 percent increase.

The median price for a one-bedroom apartment in the city is just under $1,100, rising 7 percent from last year. Residents would have to make $44,000 a year, or $21.15 an hour, to avoid spending more than the generally accepted standard of 30 percent of their salary on housing ... [Emphasis added - Ed.]

Somewhere around 50 percent of Anchorage residents live in rental housing; I haven't seen the actual figure published in awhile, so I could be off by a few percentage points in either direction.

Just the same, with the unadjusted inflation rate in the 9.3% range, the increase isn't surprising.

8 comments:

Stephen said...

Ouch...that is expensive. I guess cardboard housing is in high demand.

Rev. Paul said...

Stephen, the homeless here all manage to have expensive ... very expensive ... nylon backpacker's tents. No one ever asks how they come by them.

Except me.

Peter said...

Hmmm . . .

If Miss D. and I can ever afford our ambition to return to Alaska, it seems to me we'd be far better off buying a big travel trailer and living in it. It'd give us more space than a small apartment, for about half the money in monthly payments! We could buy land to keep it on if we lived there year-round, or use an RV park during the summer and store it during the winter. (Or park it outside your place!)

Rev. Paul said...

Peter, there's something to that. Conditions always change, but many folks live in RVs/motorhomes year-round, here. I'm sure Miss D knows about those.

Jenny said...

You could always find a park in Anchorage. It's a done thing. :p

Rev. Paul said...

Indeed; Jenny's correct. Besides, the motorhome gives one the opportunity to change neighborhoods at need ... and that's no small thing. :)

Cathy said...

Not to worry! Our all-wise government will fix it.
Yeah. Like HUD is doing here:http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/08/08/obama-administration-using-housing-department-to-compel-diversity-in/

Rev. Paul said...

Exactly, Cathy. That's exactly the problem.