When I moved into my apartment eight years ago I was paying $1,035 a month (utilities not included). Now it's $1,895 a month. That's an 83% increase. In the same time the price of groceries and everything else has gone up by approximately 50%.
The biggest hits to rent were since the start of Covid, about three years ago. I was hit with two 25%+ increases over two years. Meanwhile my income was going up about 2% a year, which was actually considered GOOD at the time. I'm eating through the last of my financial reserves at a furious pace.
I asked around. Most people have seen rent increases in the 50% range over the past three to four years. The number of people losing their homes is through the roof.
So if the rate of inflation is slowing, that doesn't do a goddamned thing to bring down those unsustainably high prices. NPR economists keep happily announcing that the new higher prices are the "new normal", the baseline; the most we can hope for is for the rate of inflation to be maintained at a "healthy" 2%.
So basically the rich took a HUGE bite out of everyone else, pushing a lot of us to homelessness and putting the rest of us in mortal fear of the same fate. And they won't be giving it back. And that's why Joe Biden is going to lose big.
Merkely just submitted a bill banning hedge funds from buying single family real estate.
ReplyDelete"Merkley's End Hedge Fund Control of American Homes Act aims to prevent rich investors from taking advantage of renters and limiting homeownership by creating a $20,000 federal tax penalty for each single-family home owned in excess of 100--money that would go toward helping first-time homebuyers with down payments."
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/12/01/merkley-bill-aims-dismantle-hedge-fund-stranglehold-housing-market