The Pew study also discovered other significant issues appearing on the horizon:

In 2015, 38% of all “renter households” were rent burdened, an increase of about 19% from 2001.
Between 2001 and 2015, the median rent rose from $512 a month to $678, a 32% increase.
The share of renter households that were severely rent burdened—spending 50 percent or more of monthly income on rent—increased by 42% between 2001 and 2015, to 17%. Increasing rent burdens were driven in part by year-over-year growth in gross rent—contract price plus utilities—that far exceeded changes in pretax income, which means that after paying rent, many Americans have less money available for other needs than they did 20 years ago.
In 2015, 46% of African-American-led renter households were rent burdened, compared with 34% of white households. Between 2001 and 2015, the gap between the share of white and African- American households experiencing severe rent burden grew by 66%.
Senior-headed renter households are more likely than those headed by people in other age groups to be rent burdened. In 2015, about 50% of renter families headed by someone 65 or older were rent burdened, and more than a fifth were severely rent burdened.
Rent-burdened families are also financially insecure in many other ways:
Nearly two-thirds (64%) had less than $400 cash in the bank; most (84%) of such households are African-American-headed.
Half had less than $10 in savings across various liquid accounts, while half of homeowners had more than $7,000.
Fewer rent-burdened households transitioned from renting to owning in 2015 than in 2001. Households that were rent burdened for at least a year were less likely to buy a home than those that never experienced a rent burden.

If you have any questions about this information or title insurance, please contact Ralph Aponte: 732.914.1400.

Counsellors Title Agency, www.counsellorstitle.net, founded in 1996, is one of New Jersey’s most respected title agencies, serving all 21 New Jersey counties with title insurance, clearing title, escrow, tidelands searches, and closing and settlement services for commercial or industrial properties, waterfront properties and marinas, condominiums, townhouses or residential single family homes. Counsellors Title also features its own Attorney Settlement Assistance Program™ [ASAP], which is an individual resource customized to fit the needs specifically of real estate attorneys, including, Documentation, Preparation, Disbursement of Funds, Attendance at Closing, HUD Preparation or Post-Closing Matters.