Rent payments up US$20.6b in US as home ownership falls

New York

US renters paid US$441 billion for apartments and houses this year, a US$20.6 billion increase, as fewer Americans owned their homes and landlords with tight inventories raised leasing charges, Zillow Inc said today.

The number of rental households grew by 2 per cent, or 770,000, nationally during 2014, according to the Seattle-based real estate information service. In the New York metropolitan area, the largest US housing market, the number of rental residences expanded by 63,000 to 3.4 million, with tenants spending a total of US$50 billion for shelter.