russellc
05-14-2008, 11:40 AM
Biggest cities, lowest rents 2008 - SlideShow - MSN Real Estate - 1 (http://realestate.msn.com/slideshow.aspx?cp-documentid=6100915)
In a Manhattan apartment that costs $1,600 a month or more to rent, you'd be lucky to have a separate bedroom, a dishwasher and a living room that fits a full couch.
Get a job transfer to Oklahoma City and a 1,228-square-foot, three-bedroom apartment in a luxury development with its own clubhouse, hot tub and swimming pool can be yours for only $989 a month.
"Renting is a very good value in Oklahoma," says Carmen Goodspeed, broker associate with Price Edwards in Oklahoma City. "It would be hard to find an apartment for $1,000 a month here. There just aren't that many."
It's unlikely that rent will drive New Yorkers to seek wide-open apartments in the Southern Plains. But there are many large, vibrant metro areas with jobs and plenty of action that don't require half a paycheck just to cover rent. Oklahoma topped the list of 20 large metro areas with populations of more than 1 million with the lowest rents, compiled for BusinessWeek.com by Reis, a New York City real-estate research firm.
The average rent in the Houston metro area was just $745 for the fourth quarter of 2007; in the Phoenix area, it was $773; in the Cleveland area, $728; and in the Cincinnati area, $692. By comparison, New York City's average asking rent was $2,825, San Francisco's was $1,861 and Boston's was $1,675. Asking rents climbed about 9% in New York and nearly 10% in San Francisco from a year earlier, according to Reis. The 12-month rent increase for the metro areas on the lowest-rent list ranged from 2.4% in St. Louis to 5.7% in Salt Lake City.
No. 1: Oklahoma City
Population: 1.18 million
Average rent: $519
12-month increase in rent: 4.2%
Median income: $46,762
Share of income used for rent: 13.3%
No. 2: Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson, S.C.
No. 3: Louisville, Ky.-Ind
No. 4: Greensboro-Winston Salem-High Point, N.C.
No. 5: Memphis, Tenn.-Miss.-Ark.
No. 6: Indianapolis
No. 7: Columbus, Ohio
No. 8: Birmingham-Hoover, Ala.
No. 9: San Antonio
No. 10: Kansas City, Mo.-Kan.
In a Manhattan apartment that costs $1,600 a month or more to rent, you'd be lucky to have a separate bedroom, a dishwasher and a living room that fits a full couch.
Get a job transfer to Oklahoma City and a 1,228-square-foot, three-bedroom apartment in a luxury development with its own clubhouse, hot tub and swimming pool can be yours for only $989 a month.
"Renting is a very good value in Oklahoma," says Carmen Goodspeed, broker associate with Price Edwards in Oklahoma City. "It would be hard to find an apartment for $1,000 a month here. There just aren't that many."
It's unlikely that rent will drive New Yorkers to seek wide-open apartments in the Southern Plains. But there are many large, vibrant metro areas with jobs and plenty of action that don't require half a paycheck just to cover rent. Oklahoma topped the list of 20 large metro areas with populations of more than 1 million with the lowest rents, compiled for BusinessWeek.com by Reis, a New York City real-estate research firm.
The average rent in the Houston metro area was just $745 for the fourth quarter of 2007; in the Phoenix area, it was $773; in the Cleveland area, $728; and in the Cincinnati area, $692. By comparison, New York City's average asking rent was $2,825, San Francisco's was $1,861 and Boston's was $1,675. Asking rents climbed about 9% in New York and nearly 10% in San Francisco from a year earlier, according to Reis. The 12-month rent increase for the metro areas on the lowest-rent list ranged from 2.4% in St. Louis to 5.7% in Salt Lake City.
No. 1: Oklahoma City
Population: 1.18 million
Average rent: $519
12-month increase in rent: 4.2%
Median income: $46,762
Share of income used for rent: 13.3%
No. 2: Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson, S.C.
No. 3: Louisville, Ky.-Ind
No. 4: Greensboro-Winston Salem-High Point, N.C.
No. 5: Memphis, Tenn.-Miss.-Ark.
No. 6: Indianapolis
No. 7: Columbus, Ohio
No. 8: Birmingham-Hoover, Ala.
No. 9: San Antonio
No. 10: Kansas City, Mo.-Kan.