Despite cooling real estate market, rents still up coast to coast
Rents are surging from coast to coast. A recent report found more than half of renters saw an increase in the past year.
If your rent is going up, you're not alone. Despite new data showing the housing market appears to be slowing, rents are still high and soaring across the country.
"I pay it every month. I don't pay it on time. I pay when I get it," said Earlean Braggs, a renter in Chicago.
A recent survey by housing lender Freddie Mac found nearly 60% of renters saw a rent increase during the past year, while just 38% of renters say they saw their income go up.
"There's times when I get nervous too because i have to prioritize, you know," said Braggs.
"Rent is going up for the same reasons that everything is getting more expensive. There's just more money flowing around in the economy from the lax monetary policy of the last two years and that is coming home to roost," said Daryl Fairweather, chief economist at Redfin.
Meanwhile, a report out this week shows new home sales fell by 12.6% in July from the previous month. That's according to data released by the u-s department of housing and urban development and the U.S. census bureau, which points to rising housing prices and rising mortgage rates for the recent decline in sales.
"We don't have enough homes in this country. So people are scrambling to find open apartments, apartment rents are going up and it's just really difficult for anybody who's trying to make ends meet," said Fairweather.
Fairweather says there are some places where rent increases are starting to slow, including some major cities like San Francisco.
"People aren't going to tolerate those kinds of rent increases with remote work, they're gonna pack up and go somewhere else where their money can get them further," he said.
Whole Foods Lawsuit
WholeFoods is getting slapped with a lawsuit over its ''no antibiotics, ever'' marketing slogan for its beef.
Consumers and an animal welfare group sued the chain, alleging lab testing found its beef did contain antibiotics and other pharmaceutical residue. The company has not responded.
Holiday Delivery Tensions
Tensions between fed-ex and its third-party contractors could delay your holiday deliveries. A group of contractors has threatened to stop operations, right before Black Friday. Independent businesses deliver most FedEx packages. As many as 30 percent of them are losing money because of higher costs for fuel, trucks, and driver pay.
Party City Hiring Temp Workers
As summer winds down, retailers are gearing up for the holiday season. Party City announced plans to hire 20,000 temporary workers. That's 3,000 more than last year and at least 10% of those hires will be offered permanent jobs.