Rental Rates Down

CNN says 2005 wasn't a good year for landlords:

Signs of a slowdown in the housing market keep coming, with drops in housing starts, sales, and more than a few dire forecasts (see: House party is over.)

Rental markets have soured as well. Rents in most cities have been either flat or down in 2005.


In Boston, a net lost of about 180,000 jobs in the past few years drove rents down about 10 percent in 2005, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Development (HUD).

Rent declined even more in San Francisco, about 13 percent. Chicago and Houston rents are down about 3 percent.

What's more, rental vacancy rates have soared -- to about 10 percent, according to the latest Census Bureau data, up from about 7.5 percent 10 years ago.

Do you really think rents will do that much better in 2006?