Chart of the Day: Twin Cities Rents and Vacancy Rates

I read recently that over 40% of people age 30-44 are renters. In the core cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, that number is much higher. Via Insight News, here’s the current picture about rents and rental vacancy in the Twin Cities metro:

TC rental market chart

As you can see, the rental market is tight. Here’s what the article, taken from a recent report of the Minnesota Housing Partnership, has to say:

With rising demand for rental units nationwide and in Minnesota, housing construction in the state is beginning to rebound, particularly for multi-family units. Through May of this year, 7,000 units were permitted statewide, the highest since 2006. Of these units, a record 39% were multi-family units, the report found.

What do you think? Should the Twin Cities be building a lot more apartments? If not, how else could we keep rents affordable?

 

Bill Lindeke

About Bill Lindeke

Pronouns: he/him

Bill Lindeke has writing blogging about sidewalks and cities since 2005, ever since he read Jane Jacobs. He is a lecturer in Urban Studies at the University of Minnesota Geography Department, the Cityscape columnist at Minnpost, and has written multiple books on local urban history. He was born in Minneapolis, but has spent most of his time in St Paul. Check out Twitter @BillLindeke or on Facebook.