When it comes to rising interest rates, it’s not just mortgage holders feeling the pinch right now.
In fact, renters are under increasing pressure, with recent data from Finder showing just how concerned they are about keeping a roof over their head.
When it comes to rising interest rates, it’s not just mortgage holders feeling the pinch right now. Domain
“We have had three rate rises, obviously borrowers are being hit hard by that, but every tenant has a borrower as a landlord – about 62 per cent of tenants are really concerned about a rent increase in the next six months,” Today money expert Joel Gibson said.
“There’s only 29 per cent saying they’re relatively comfortable, but 47 per cent have struggled to meet rent in the month of June… so there’s a lot of stress out there.”
The median weekly rental price has increased at a staggering rate and data released by Cotality last week shows just how extreme these rent rises have become in the past five years.
“It’s really scary stuff, 5.9 per cent increase over the past year in average rents, the median rent is now over $700 and that’s gone up by $200 in the past five years,” Gibson said.
“That’s an increase of 40.6 per cent over five years and the previous five years before that was only 12 per cent, so it really has kicked up in the past five years, renters are not imagining it… they really are copping it hard at the moment.”
Gibson said if you do see your rent increasing at a rate you don’t believe to be fair in coming months, you can raise it with your real estate or landlord.
“You can look at the rent check websites most states now have, just to see what the median rent is in your area for an apartment or a house and get a sense of whether what you’re being asked for is fair,” he said.
“And then you can present that to the landlord, if you don’t think it’s fair and treat it like a job application, be prepared to negotiate because you might have to.”
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