With rents rising faster than most American's paychecks, finding
a roommate to split the bills with isn't just for kids straight out of college
anymore. The percentage of adults living with someone other than a
spouse or partner hit 32% nationwide in 2012, up from 26% in 2000,
according to Zillow's analysis of the latest Census Bureau data. And, judging
by the ongoing decline in homeownership rates and tightened supply of rental
vacancies, the trend appears to be gaining momentum.
People start pairing up when rents are climbing and incomes
aren't keeping up -- and in recent years, rents have really been on a tear.
They rose 6.5% over the 12 months ended in September, according to Trulia.
Meanwhile, wages have remained more or less flat.
In Brooklyn, N.Y., for example, the average one-bedroom
apartment rents for more than $2,600 a month. Renters willing to live together,
however, pay an average of $3,200 for a two bedroom, each saving $1,000 a month.
Those living in three bedrooms, which average $4,200 a month, save even more at
$1,200 per person.
Working adults in doubled up households tend to earn less, according
to Zillow. So sharing a place enables them to afford and compete for more
attractive housing.
Writer Dina Wilcox and executive coach, Ann Fry, live in
Manhattan, one of the nation's most expensive housing markets. Both in
their late 60s, most of Wilcox's and Fry's peers live with significant others
or by themselves. But these two have found life more enjoyable and affordable
by splitting things like the utility bills and food costs in their Harlem
apartment. Fry, for example, pays just $1,500 a month for her share of housing
expenses. There's also the added bonus of companionship: The two often
entertain and cook together.
Thikshan Arulampalam, 46, said he has had a roommate for
almost the entire 18 years he's lived in New York City. He's been thankful for
the savings. Money got very tight after he was laid off last year and started
his own IT company.
Not surprisingly, the metro areas with the largest
percentage of doubled (or tripled or quadrupled) up households are the
priciest ones. Among the cities where 42% or more of households include
roommates: Honolulu, Los Angeles, Riverside, Calif., Miami, and New York, according
to Zillow's analysis of Census data.
Cities where roommates are few and far between are mainly
small affordable places in the Midwest, where slow growth means little
pressure on housing stocks and rents and home prices are reasonable.
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