Renters in Tampa Bay paying higher percentage of their incomes for housing than homeowners

Rents in the Tampa Bay area are eating up a bigger chunk of personal income, making it harder for people to save for a down payment — at time when homes otherwise are affordable by historical standards.

A new study by Zillow found that bay area renters paid an average of 32.4 percent of their monthly income on rent in the three months ended in June. That was up from 26.8 percent in the years 1985-2000.

In the same quarter, homeowners spent just 14.6 percent of their income on mortgage payments, down from the historical average of 19 percent.

Nationally, too, rents are soaring while mortgages remain affordable.

“There are good reasons to rent temporarily — when you move to a new city, for example — but from an affordability perspective, rents are crazy right now,” said Svenja Gudell, Zillow’s chief economist.

“Our research found that unaffordable rents are making it hard for people to save for a down payment and retirement, and that people whose rent is unaffordable are more likely to skip out on their own health care.”

Read more here.