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$4,000 to $8,000 a month

These bigger and better apartments are not cheap though.

Pestronk revealed that the rent range for a two-bedroom can be “anywhere from $4,000 to $8,000.”

These properties, according to Pestronk, cater to “older, more sophisticated” people seeking spacious rooms that accommodate full-size furniture, feature adult aesthetic styles and provide child-friendly amenities. He revealed that there are a lot of families with small children living in his apartments, which are equipped with splash pads, indoor kids’ playrooms and outdoor playgrounds.

“It’s not inexpensive, but compared to the cost of ownership, it’s favorable,” he remarked.

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Housing affordability

In the U.S., housing affordability remains a pressing concern. According to the 2023 “State of the Nation’s Housing” report from the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University, you need an annual income of roughly $117,000 to afford a median-priced home in America.

The Census Bureau says the median household income in the U.S. was $74,580 in 2022.

While renting a spacious unit from one of Pestronk’s developments presents an alternative to buying a house, not everyone can afford to do so.

Anyone paying more than 30% of their income on rent and utilities is considered cost-burdened. As of 2022, 50% of American renters were considered cost-burdened, according to another report from Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies. That’s a 3.2 percentage point increase from 2019.

And it appears many Americans simply can’t keep up with rising rent. Homelessness in America reached 653,100 people in Jan. 2023, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. This was a record high since reporting began in 2007. Moreover, the number of unsheltered homeless people surged by 48% from 2015 to 2023, reaching 256,610 — also a new record.

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About the Author

Jing Pan

Jing Pan

Investment Reporter

Jing is an investment reporter for MoneyWise. He is an avid advocate of investing for passive income. Despite the ups and downs he’s been through with the markets, Jing believes that you can generate a steadily increasing income stream by investing in high quality companies.

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