Top US Regions for Renters in 2023

Many of us have thought about starting a new life in a new place at least once in our lives. The grass is always greener with your neighbors, and in order to find the best land to live in, it is important to know all the nuances and features of life. In order not to lose when choosing the future place of residence, you need to choose carefully. What makes a city the perfect place to live? There is often talk of happy residents, lots of jobs, good schools and affordable housing. To find the best cities to live in, we analyzed the top 100 rental markets in the United States and ranked them based on five key criteria:

• how many days of rental housing remained unoccupied
• what proportion of apartments were occupied
• how many potential tenants fought for apartments
• what proportion of tenants have extended lease agreements
• share of new apartments commissioned

TOP 10 most popular regions of the USA among tenants:

• Miami-Dade County, Florida
• Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
• Orlando, Florida
• Southwest Florida
• North Jersey, New Jersey
• Grand Rapids, Michigan
• Rochester, New York
• Central Jersey, New Jersey
• Milwaukee, Wisconsin
• Broward County, Florida

Why choose Florida to live

A large influx of new residents seeking warmer weather and milder restrictions during the pandemic, along with a wave of remote workers, have turned Florida into the most sought-after region among renters in 2022.

Miami-Dade County is the hottest rental market in the US, as the demand for apartments in South Florida is higher than ever. It is characterized by high occupancy, low supply and record high rental renewal rates.

The attractiveness of South Florida for tenants from New York and other places largely depends on the growing number of technology and financial companies. In addition, more and more house hunters are beginning to feel the pressure of rising inflation and mortgage rates. As a result, they postpone or completely abandon their dream of becoming homeowners, which puts even more pressure on the apartment market.

What is going on in NY?

New York tightens regulation of short-term rentals. The new rules are causing fierce debate. Many believe that the city authorities exceed their powers. What happened? Law 18, passed by the New York City Council in 2022, requires owners to register the real estate that they rent out for short-term rent.

The owners will also need to prove that they live in a rented property, that the object meets the safety requirements and other standards relating to apartment buildings and permanent residence. Owners who violate the rules can be fined from $1,000 to $5,000.

According to the Inside Airbnb project, there are more than 40,000 ads for short-term rentals in New York. The latest plans of the city authorities may lead to the removal of up to 10,000 ads on the platform.

Innovations cause fierce debates in society about housing, hotels, the tourist market and the rights of New Yorkers. While the defenders of tenants celebrate the victory, the owners of the facilities condemn the new measures as an abuse of the powers of the city authorities.

One of them, Farhana Chowdhury, for example, wrote on the city's online forum that renting out premises through Airbnb helped pay for her mortgage and her children's college tuition.

"It's not fair that we are so restricted in our own homes," she says.

Airbnb also commented on the law, saying the new rules could hurt New Yorkers who rely on short-term rentals amid the rising cost of living in the city.

The cheapest cities in Florida to buy a home

The climate is wonderful here, and housing prices are significantly lower than in California. Let's figure out how much local houses cost and in which cities we need to look for the most affordable housing. As of the second quarter of 2021, the average cost of American housing is almost $375 thousand. Compared to last year, this figure increased by more than $50 thousand, according to a report by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Thus, prices for the year increased by 16.2%.

In 2020, loan rates were lowered to support the economy, and people were given "helicopter money". Analysts started talking about the upcoming inflation. This has pushed Americans who want to save money to buy real estate.

At the same time, the construction of new housing has decreased, the number of offers has decreased. So, at the end of last year, the National Association of Realtors reported a record low level of options available on the market.

According to the Zillow portal, Hawaii is by far the most difficult state to buy a home in. Here, the average mortgage payment is 57.9% of the median income of residents (the level of earnings above and below which the same number of employees receive). The lowest housing prices, according to the same source, are in West Virginia – 40% of the average value of real estate in the country and only 16.1% of the median income of local residents.

But we are interested in another state – Florida. By the way, it is also considered the best state for retired. The prices here are as follows. On average, a house costs $297.4 thousand, homeowners spend about a third (33.4%) of their annual income on mortgages. If housing affordability is important to you, then we have prepared a selection of great places  in our article The cheapest cities in Florida to buy a home.