California

Skyrocketing Rents Continue to Rise in the Bay Area

The cost to get into a Bay Area apartment or house continues to rise, and an increasing number of people are saying they’ve had enough and need to get out of the area.

San Jose still is the most expensive place to rent nationwide, with the median rent now at $3,760, a jump of more than 4% this year. Number two in the country is San Francisco and the East Bay, where the median rent is now $3,560, up nearly 4% this year.

Across the rest of the country, the median rent is less than half of those figures.

So, it's understandable why financial pros are increasingly hearing from people who say they’re thinking of moving.

"Unless there’s a massive change in the regulatory environment, and we double the supply of housing, I don’t think there’s any way around it," said Hilary Hendershott of Hendershott Wealth Management. "These folks will come here, make the money they can make, and they’re gonna have to leave in order to buy."

Another indicator of the sticker shock is the latest Quinnipiac Poll released Thursday, which says just 53% of California voters say they can afford to live in the state. That number drops to 40 percent among people ages 18-34.

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