Report: Booming Multifamily Sector Lacks Affordable Housing

The rental market may be flourishing, but finding decent, affordable housing is still a challenge for many renters, especially among the lower-income households, the ""National Low Income Housing Coalition"":http://nlihc.org/ revealed in a recent report titled ""_Out of Reach 2013_"":http://nlihc.org/oor/2013.

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A person working full-time would need to make about $18.79 an hour to afford a decent apartment, yet the hourly wage earned by the average renter is $14.32, according to the report.

Federal standards consider housing to be affordable when housing costs don't exceed 30 percent of income. If one wage-earner earns $14.32 an hour, a household can afford to spend no more than $745 a month on rent, according to the report.

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Among extremely low income (ELI) renter households, affordable housing is an even greater issue. Yearly incomes for ELI households are no more than $19,810, which means these households can spend no more than $495 a month on rent.

According to the report, for every 100 ELI renter households, there are 30 affordable housing units. The report estimates there are 10.1 million ELI renters in the country, and 76 percent of the ELI rental segment spends over half of their income on housing costs.

The report also noted most newly constructed apartments are for high income households, while older units are receiving upgrades to serve a higher income bracket. To meet the demand for affordable housing among ELI households, about 4.5 million affordable units would need to be added to the market, according the report.

The report also ranked states based on their housing wage--the full-time hourly wage needed to afford a decent apartment--for a two bedroom apartment. In Hawaii, a person would need to make $32.14 an hour in order to afford a two-bedroom apartment, the most out of any state. Washington D.C. ranked second, where the housing wage is $27.15. The other three states in the top five were California ($25.78), New York ($25.25), and New Jersey ($24.82).

The five most affordable states were North Dakota ($12.06), West Virginia ($12.35), Kentucky ($12.71), Arkansas ($12.76), and South Dakota ($12.82).