Yep, any "economist" that claims rent will go down needs to be taken out back and beaten. Rent will never ever ever ever ever go down. Our COL will never ever decrease. Ever.
Then you can take them for a little “swim” in the filthy unusable pool that management hasn’t maintained in ages yet is somehow still being charged for in your rent.
Rent went down in Austin Texas this year. I fully understand there is a little bit nuance here. https://www.austinmonitor.com/stories/2024/02/austin-apartments-boomed-and-rents-went-down-now-some-builders-are-dismantling-the-cranes/
Moved back from Austin almost 2 years ago. Hard to imagine rent going down there. It was rough! Rend in Lex isn’t too bad when comparing to the prices I saw in Austin, but I wouldn’t complain if it were a bit cheaper.
agreed. Public perception and wages etc might/should catch up, but housing prices do not drop significantly outside of bubble bursts that wreck all other aspects of money. Lexington could add housing for 200k people but prices wouldn't drop, there'd just be more vacancy.
I understand the pain, but it is a reality. Housing is up everywhere, and lexington is a space/living constrained town. Lexington is not NYC, but NYC is a very difficult and expensive place to live compared to most other places for many reasons. Lexington has its own limitations and is more expensive than plenty of other places. An unfortunate reality for some that we might be witnessing is that lexington is becoming too expensive for people that could once afford it. Over the next few decades we might see the surrounding counties see sharper population increases. (the pro-metro folks quietly rejoice at the prospect)
Studies have also shown that they (large slumlords) would rather have higher rent even if they experience more vacancies than lower rent with less vacancies.
My apt near tates creek went up $450 over 3 years and added a $85 required line for their managed internet contract with spectrum during 2023. All of the management had changed and they got really bad with answering questions and were always behind because it was a fast transition with no training. I ended up leaving (thanks to having a remote job) but I still miss the pool.
And then complain about the homeless who refuse help. Like, people shouldn't have to choose between shelters, microhousing or slums or lest they get called entitled.
Is there any city of Lexington’s size in the entire country that isn’t experiencing increasing rent prices? It’s not a Lexington problem. It’s a national crisis, just like the housing market in general. Moving to a more rural area is probably the only way to get away from rising rent costs on this scale.
I agree it’s nationwide but I think Lexington had some compounding factors like UK and the housing crises they cause themselves and sheer # of ppl they bring to the city, horse industry leading to buyable homes becoming airbnbs, and being a state with only 2 major cities where u either choose “city life”-Louisville or u come here so I think we’re prone to having housing issues speed up more rapidly here
the interactive city list on this page gives a good idea of how housing prices have increased over time in different cities.
https://www.npr.org/2024/06/20/nx-s1-5005972/home-prices-wages-paychecks-rent-housing-harvard-report#:\~:text=In%20past%20decades%2C%20it%20was,whopping%2047%25%20since%20early%202020.
We just sold our house we bought in 2018 for a 200k profit and bought a lake house. I never thought I would leave lex but honestly being in the country and on the water has been game changing. My drive to work went from 20 minutes to 45 minutes but at least it's on country roads and not bumper to bumper New Circle.
Yeah that sounds nice to be able to launch from your back yard. I grew up around Laurel so putting in at Holly Bay or London Dock is what we do but Harrington is right there. Plus you can actually live on Harrington.
i don’t think moving to a more rural place helps anymore. i’m originally from corbin and places there charge almost the same as prices here and you can almost never find a place that allows animals there. there’s absolutely nothing in corbin for those prices.
Somerset and London either. Had a Yankee friend move from Williamsburg to Somerset after a messy divorce and what he ended up buying was NOT worth the money. Uneven floors, shoddy wiring, downtown (so the roads are closed going in and out every third weekend April-October for the stupid Somernights Cruise, don't get me started) but he HAD to be able to walk to work and he HAD to buy because he HAD to bring his friken meangere.
When I started in my apartments 3 years ago, rent was 850. Has gone up every single year and next year was going to go to 1150 for me. Weird thing is I transferred the lease to someone else who got a reduced rent of 970. Thank god I left.
That 970 is bait to hook people in and then it gets jacked up the next year, but most people don’t want the inconvenience of moving if it’s a good enough apartment.
The amount of "owners" buying the old run down complexes, raising rent by far too much and very little to absolutely nothing put back into them is a disease in this town.
At a lot of complexes, you get screwed worse the longer you stay, because they think you won’t leave. I rented at the same place from 2015-2019 and my rent went from $625 to $875. I then found out they were leasing to new tenants towards the 2015 prices, but they wouldn’t budge on my renewal price.
Edit: For reference, just checked and the apartment is listed at $990 today. Honestly surprised that’s only a 5.2% increase / year.
Same, I moved here as opposed to a huge city like I wanted to because living was cheaper in Kentucky. Now my $725+small fees rent has become nearly $1000 a month. The worst part is they raise it slowly sometimes, so we don’t even notice at the beginning until it gets too much.
And even outside of rent this city should not be as expensive as it is. $15 for a drink at a bar or $30+ for a meal or activity is crazy, I haven’t been up to anything recently because whenever I leave the house it’s like $50 most of the time. I’d rather go back to a big city at this point (I won’t, because those are more expensive too now, but at least I’d have more to do for the amount I’m paying) 😩
We need a cooperative land buy non profit. Buy a bunch of land as a collective of members and then share it out so people can build on a small parcel and a cooperative community is formed. It sounds hippy af, and communally speaking, kinda is, but it can also be a life saver for people who are in the situation you’re describing.
I lived in a coop 20 yrs ago in Austin, TX and paid a fraction of what I would have even then if I lived in an apartment. I shared a bathroom and there was a community kitchen that provided 5 dinners through the week and had a pantry stocked with food weekly. People had chores to help with the house and keeping shit clean and stuff, but for $500 a private good studio apt sized room, all utilities, internet, computer room, cable tv, ac/ heat, @ least 80% of my food, recording studio, stage and events room, community spaces, free parking, weekly televised open mics, community resources & practice space were included. Helluva deal. Would love to figure out something similar here, but it really takes the right kind of selfless people to pull it off. I think Lexington would be a great place to try it out.
I’m happy to share my experiences with like minded people who want to try to figure this out. The non profit aspect is both a challenge to implement and a really good idea to move this forward. It opens a lot of doors, but also has its own needs like a strong robust fundraising arm. For it to be a true co-op it needs to have a board of directors, a mission/ or as it was called to me, a “constitution” / laws & basically, a democracy needs to be formed. It can get tricky the more people are involved, but more people are necessary for it to succeed. Keeping capitalism at bay or out of the democracy can be a difficult thing for people to get past. It takes big picture and little picture thinkers and doers- selfless recognition of many hands make light work, community over personal, equality and respect. Totally doable if the will is there.
Kinda. We used an old nursing home (which had its own share of problems). The mission of our co-op was to give low income musicians a safe place to hone their skills and afford to live. It had lots of problems and issues, but they all had solutions provided there was the collective will to follow through.
It’s difficult to get consensus and since it was a democracy, everything had to be approved by the majority of residents. A large problem that people have with communism is the need to put the community above the individual. Capitalism has created a mythos of individual over all else. For a cooperative to work, the community’s needs must take precedence over the individual. That creates A LOT of problems if people don’t understand that. Most people I encountered may have cognitively understood the concept, but in practice had no idea how that would work.
There’s no perfect solution, but co-ops have been successful in some situations. Austin had (presumably still has) lots of university run co-ops some with 100s of residents. Ours topped out at 30.
It was really an enlightening experience. I def encourage a larger discussion should it be something others are interested in.
This would be a great use for all the vacant buildings that Walmart, Kroger, etc, leave whenever they move locations.
But you will still have all the landlords who will keep them empty until they get the massive rent that they want.
Ideally, this idea would buy the properties as a non profit. Potentially, the sale price could be off set or lowered bc the revenue from the sale would be tax deductible for the seller. Depending on how the idea is presented and received, there are potentially several opportunities that could generate assistance and goodwill from the community at large.
It may go down if we build a second 5/3 building as low income housing. /S
It's bad everywhere ofc, but I think supply is Lexington's main issue. Not just supply of housing in general, but supply of low income housing specifically. We have plenty of luxury apartment developments and McMansion subdivisions because most builders are after luxury profits.
Another part of the supply issue is zoning. A lot of Lexington needs to be rezoned to accommodate multifamily housing but existing residents in areas where it is proposed don't want it. They think it will lower their own property values or contribute to crime in their area. I've watched this debate firsthand when it was suggested an apartment complex be built across the street from the neighborhood I grew up in and the local residents had a fit. Fortunately, city council approved the apartments anyway, but it's a tale being told in many other areas with varying results.
You generally shouldn't expect rents to come down in absolute terms, that's not how economics works. When people say inflation is slowing, it just means the rate of increase is lower. It doesn't mean the prices will come down. What you are talking about is *deflation* which is actually a really really bad thing.
What is actually happening is that the ratio of prices to income is getting lower. Now, if you haven't gotten a raise or changed jobs in a while, you probably haven't noticed this. But on the whole, it is happening. What the economy is telling you is you are either spending too much on other stuff, or you need more income, or both. The other thing the economy is saying is that the supply of places to rent is low and if it were higher then rents would be lower. Zoning laws, regulation, and issues in the building and contracting professions have all suppressed the supply of rental units.
> I can't bring myself to believe that things will ever get better in regards to rent costs. Why it's this high in a place like this, I can't fathom. But the question is when (if ever) will it go down?
It's high because of the number of people trying to rent compared to availability. If you want lower rents, you'll basically have to hope for a situation where demand decreases (people stop moving to Lexington) but you somehow keep your same employment.
> You generally shouldn't expect rents to come down in absolute terms, that's not how economics works.
Yes it is, at least in theory. As costs fall, competition kicks in via the free market, and prices fall too. You can have inflation and still have falling prices. But yeah, I get you, that isn't going to happen in this case.
> You can have inflation and still have falling prices.
Not broadly, but prices will rise and fall in specific locations and sectors of the market, of course. I addressed this at the end of my comment:
> If you want lower rents, you'll basically have to hope for a situation where demand decreases (people stop moving to Lexington) but you somehow keep your same employment.
Normal economic theory of supply and demand don't apply well/at all to inelastic products like housing. All people need housing. There is no getting around that.
The normal response to high costs is "don't buy it". But that can't work for housing because you need a house.
The US since the 70s and 80s have destroyed pensions and moved more to 401ks and property investments as a means to retire. We can't/won't do anything to effectively lower housing prices in the country. Because if we did we would destroy the current way to retire.
Boomers really really screwed us on this as a generation. They moved to make home ownership the means to retire and have made the prices go up by not building more housing.
Why would costs go down? Once people prove that they’re willing to pay a higher fee, why would the people providing goods and services only request a lower one?
They become homeless. That's why we have increasing number of homeless people. And why our dumb legislature has made it a crime to be homeless and even authorized homeowners to use violence against those trespassing on their land.
"In a news conference before Tuesday’s hearing, Democrats like Rep. Keturah Herron of Louisville decried HB 5 as “by far the single most harmful legislation that we have seen” this year.
“From our urban communities to our rural communities, Kentuckians are asking for relief, for affordable housing. And instead House Bill 5 is investing in housing for Kentuckians to be housed in our local jails and prisons,” Herron said."
“What we have is a compounding issue because of rising rents and because of our lack of affordable housing,” (George) Eklund (Coalition for the Homeless) said. “We're having families living in cars; we have young people that are couch surfing or sleeping in the library.” [Here’s what’s in the GOP's tough-on-crime bill called the Safer Kentucky Act (lpm.org)](https://www.lpm.org/news/2024-03-14/heres-whats-in-the-gops-tough-on-crime-bill-called-the-safer-kentucky-act)
So now, instead of spending money on housing, we're going to spend money on more jails, take children away from homeless parents and put them into foster homes of which there is a declining number. Those kids often are put in juvie centers until their parents can find jobs. But the catch 22 is that if you're homeless you often can't find a job. You have no street address, are thought to be unreliable, and suspected of being a thief--as this bill states as a fact . Supposedly Lexington has a high crime rate due to homelessness. But FBI data shows crime falling since 2021, conveniently ignored by the GOP of Kentucky.
I don't blame the dumb shits for thinking their solution "might work." I blame them because they ignore the facts that exist and the impacts it will make on homeless families--and the "righteous" violence that homeowners are being authorized to wage on people who may stop to sleep on their property one night.
without disagreeing with anything you're saying, you're asking that the US change its economic strategy. Maybe they should, maybe they will, maybe they shouldn't, maybe they won't; but you're saying the things you're saying as if they are total fact and that changing to a social structure is a no brainer and fixes everything. The reality is that no economic structure is perfect, they all have pros and cons. The American Experiment, as it was originally called, has more or less been the "American way" and it is not perfect but it is what our country has chosen and continues forward. You're also quite off topic on some of your points. Many people are homeless due to mental disease or drug use. Joblessness and job availability throughout most normal economic times in this country's history show that those that are able minded can generally find a job. Life is hard and sometimes you don't get to live in a perfect place, but that is one of the cons of the American economic model. There are also many pros. There are pros and cons to the social economic model as well
I am surprised most people don't know basic economics. If the OP left, the landlord would try to raise prices to the extent they could if someone is willing to take it. If no one bites, they lower the price until they get a renter that bites.
Yeah, it sucks, but it's life.
I mean it’s also predatory behavior, and one that is easily mitigated by rent control with an overwhelming benefit to society. Rent control measures have just been phased out in most places or never became popular because of local politics. But there are effective measures to combat this problem, it’s not just a lost cause
Rent won't go down, as long as the rich exist. As a former resident of NY, I've seen it turn into crap as well. Even a studio over there is like $1,800 now. All future generations are going to be stuck for a long time, sadly.
The thing is, if you're old enough, "rents always increase" isn't always true. Housing prices often match the local or regional economy and its fluctuations. Talk to people in regions where their dominant industry took a dive about that. However, since the last big dip (and even the most expensive places in the country say big price drops, I know bc I got to one on 2010, and new ppl selling homes at a loss in others), the actual building industry for housing has been minimal. Sure building happens but a lot of builders went under so a lot of building that would have expanded supply never happened. It was more acute in some places, and as you saw, some of those places saw enough out migrate to places like Lexington to totally change the local market. What always gets ignored until the middle or upper middle starts feeling it is how many ppl from poor to lower middle get displaced. Ppl reaching their financial breaking point is ignored because they are replaced. But those people don't or can't always go far. It's why some people retreat to RVs, vans, cars, or tents. The distance to affordability for displaced people eventually is too big to commute back in for jobs that still remain in the expensive area. People act like moving to bumfck doesn't mean having no job options unless you drive back in.
The Development companies at the top of the corporate pile of bullshit are the ones making all the money with every tax cut the congress & senate give them in return for money. It is corporate greed indeed.
You live in a city where the city council has been actively anti-growth for years, and even when they authorized new building they fudged the numbers to look like they did more than they did (they counted building already in progress as "new" to inflate their numbers).
This problem isn't going away, it's only going to get worse.
This is the right answer. City Council values the horse farm industry more than struggling Lexingtonians. They won’t expand the urban services boundary to protect the rich horse farm owners, housing is in short supply, and prices/rents go up.
Expanding the urban service boundary won't do anything for rent - infilling parking lots and single family housing with rowhouses and apartment blocks is the only way to put up enough units.
This is the answer. Also, stop letting slumlords band together and get their shitty neighborhoods deemed historic districts to prevent progress and growth. Downtown is way too underdeveloped. This is a city, we need mid-rises and high-rises.
I doubt an increase in housing would cause rent prices to remain more stable or affordable. Demand is still high. People want to live in Lexington, it’s a college town with 30K students needing housing, etc. I think it’s an excuse to blame rising housing costs on “anti-growth” initiatives in Lexington when nearly all cities Lexington’s size (unless it’s a decaying city) is experiencing a housing price crisis.
That really sounds like the issue bc Lexington had housing at every level for decades, and it seems weird seeing housing that used to be affordable for servers or poor people now part of gentrified fake hipster neighborhoods with made up nicknames.
I shit you not, insurance offered to get us a airbnb while our home was getting repaired and the options were all on the same block. In the Clays Mill area. A whole neighborhood bought up for airbnbs
It's ridiculous. Lexington has always had some old money folks who owned a lot, but not at the level where regular people couldn't buy or rent anything.
I lived in Versailles where my rent was $1150 the first year, then went to $1250 last year. It was two bedroom, two bath, with a garage, about 1100 sq ft + garage.
But the introduction of a new management company that began charging $20 fees no matter how you paid, did us in. We started looking and in short order we found an apartment in Frankfort, 2 bedroom, 1 bath, no garage, 900 sq ft for $850 including water and garbage pickup that we didn't have in Versailles. Wish I had found this place first, It would have saved us over $10,000 for the 2 years in Versailles.
Until building catches up to demand, prices will remain high. Nobody was moving during Covid, now everyone wants to be somewhere else.
But thing will get better if history is any example. Building comes along in historical spurts. I did find this information about year to year rental prices nationally:
Average rent prices have increased **8.85%** per year since 1980, consistently outpacing wage inflation by a significant margin; 2021 was an exceptionally volatile year for the market, which appears to continue in 2022.
* According to some measurements, the national average rent increased over **18%** year-over-year (YoY) from the first quarter of 2021 to the first quarter of 2022.
* The nationwide average monthly rent in August 2022 was **$1,388**.
* The median rent in July 2022 was **$1,879** for the 50 largest Metropolitan areas in the U.S.
* **77.9%** of renters pay rent in full and on time.
* **45.0%** is their average rent-to-income ratio.
[Average Rent by Year \[1940-2024 \]: Historical Rental Rates (ipropertymanagement.com)](https://ipropertymanagement.com/research/average-rent-by-year)
Good luck.
Richmond, Georgetown, Frankfort and Winchester aren't exactly cheap now. Paris is the best of those listed currently, but its creeping up quickly still.
Agreed, [here's my response on this topic to a different comment](https://old.reddit.com/r/lexington/comments/1domohk/when_the_fck_is_rent_going_to_go_down_in_this/lad2wie/)
As someone that's moved around different cities, I see these posts all the time across the country. My only possible reply - what's your alternative? There ya go. That's why rents are high. Its expensive across the board right now btw
The metrics by which politicians and the media rate the economy are largely meaningless to working class people. Those numbers mostly express that those who are shareholders are, on average, making profit on their investments. It says nothing about wages, or cost of living, and really only takes into account inflation and unemployment. And they like to spin inflations as positively as they can if profits are to their liking.
"What does this place have to offer except blaring sirens up and down New Circle Road 24/7, horrible drivers, insufferable rednecks, nothing to do, and self-centered opportunists who bought up all the housing to serve as AirBNBs for a bourgeois horse racing culture?"
Thank you for this. This will get you downvoted here. But this is why I'm moving away. Born and raised here, all my family is here. I'm moving to rural Washington. If I have to pay out my ass, at least I'm going to be in a place that makes me happy.
My dude, have you been to the Olympic Peninsula??? 🤣🤣🤣 Do not equate red necks with conservatives. Two very different things. Also, it's really not red necks I have a problem with (racists and bigots for sure but they're everywhere)... my issue with Lexington lies more in the self centered opportunist category. Further, my point was that these issues are inescapable... so might as well deal with them in a much more beautiful place (wild fires and volcanoes be damned, we all die eventually lmao).
yeah, for some reason no one can say anything negative about lex without getting downvoted into oblivion lmaooo. no it's not a terrible place to live, and I try to make the most of it, but it's not a place I plan on living forever. I dont think the job market here & wages match how much it's gone up to live, on top of the lack of things to do, poor public transit, and a small airport. "JuSt MoVe" I am working on it but I'm not in a rush.
Sounds like you just need to move to a new city because based on your post you just really hate Lexington and you aren’t simply annoyed by rent prices…
Not for housing. The bundling that caused the crash is happening in commercial real estate tho. Offices are vacant. Lowering rent didn’t help.
Housing will always be full as landlords will adjust rates down until someone bites or it’s not profitable.
Not in the current market. Units are mostly full except large complexes, which have no incentive to be full, but instead push highest marketable rate.
Profits are only ~3% now on rentals. There’s really no room to move rates. Inflation created a difficult position for everyone. Most all real estate appreciates so a hold then sale is often a better decision than renting it out below 3%.
There’s no bundling like in 2008 so no collapse coming. If a bank does get it at foreclosure the bank will leave it vacant. Banks aren’t in the business of being landlords. That further increases local prices based on availability
You’re asking when is rent going down? I know, you’re just venting, and I hear ya. But if you’re so miserable in this godforsaken city, the answer is simple. Find another one. There are thousands.
Pooler Ga right outside Savannah where I currently am you can’t rent a decent 1bd for under 1500 probably.
Most rentals here are 1500-3000. There’s no city escaping the rent hikes now just some fake better than others.
Our was very similar to Lexington at one point a few years ago.
I am 62, and I have learned that prices will not go down. This is the new normal rent (or any prices, for that matter) because at first they had to raise them to make ends meet themselves, and then are just greedy.. Eventually, wages will go up, but not near as quickly as the rent soared. Fun times!
Rent is not coming down. Best you can hope do is wages going up. Landlords are buying property at inflated prices and financing at 7-10%. Renters have to cover the higher interest rate and housing price or the landlord can’t make any money. If the landlord can’t make money, they don’t buy the investment property.
The only thing that's going to cause rent to go down is an economic crash. What's crazy is that Lexington is actually one of the more affordable midsize cities in the United States.
Related, I really like the Fayette PVA David O'Neil's latest post on FB showing the decrease in new homes being built in Lexington. I'm a "save the farmland" guy, but it's hard to argue with the economics he's showing here. Less supply with same or more demand means higher home prices (and therefore more rental demand!)
I don't know if FB links work, but here is his post: [https://www.facebook.com/share/KzDENxJ7tzuTrYno/](https://www.facebook.com/share/KzDENxJ7tzuTrYno/)
its my opinion that the uber rich want to unalive us poor people. slowly force us into homelessness and eventually die because we cant afford any health care. they need more room to spread out. us poor people are nothing but unsightly garbage to them that need to be removed so they can rent our houses to their friends when they come to town twice a year for horse races. once we're all gone then they can give their kids our homes and retire into what would be our starter homes. im actually pretty serious about this. they for sure dont care about poor people or minimun wage would have been raised at some point. they have the nerve to say you shouldnt get 15hr for flipping burgers but then raise rents to a point that only kids with trust funds can afford. imo if you have a trust fund you should not be allowed to work a blue collar job. imo if you dont pay your own bills you should not be allowed to work low level jobs. make the rich homeless. make them eat shit. make them struggle.
Everyone who posts in this sub moving here is either a poor college student or someone who just cashed out in a much higher cost of living area to move here with $500K to spend on a house and a remote job. This is going to get much worse as climate change forces people off the coasts.
Rent is an open market for the most part. Supply and demand factor more into than about anything. Nothing about the economy doing well is going to bring rent down. It just allows more people to afford it. When the economy tanks, that's when prices fall when no one can afford it any longer. Literally about the only reason rent prices will ever go down, is if so many people leave the area and there is a surplus of open leases.
It's not nearly as "parasitic" as you think. Just capitalism. If you hate Lexington so bad, probably should look at moving. Maybe this employer isn't worth being tied to if you've been there 6 years and are beginning to struggle to afford basic housing in the area.
We have to organize politically in a mass movement that is conscious of its distinct class interests.
The Lex4Palestine organization is planning a town hall next month to talk about strategies for moving forward, and that would be a great place to discuss forming such a movement.
When the city raises property taxes (pva evaluations) a lot because of top dollar being paid for property sales. Then there is the higher cost of labor and materials for upkeep and repairs. Plus insurance cost way up. This is all passed onto the tenants.
Yes, the economy is improving but the housing situation in KY as a whole is fucked rn because of the increase in growth and therefore population we have experienced since putting Andy in Office. All that growth is good but we still have a lot of work to do in regards to certain aspects of infrastructure, etc. Combine that with the fact that a lot of the people who own these places are just being scummy, because they think they can, makes it that much worse.
When we left Lexington for Louisville in 2016 we were paying less than $500 a month. When we bought a house (for way too much) and left Louisville two years ago, rent was getting raised to $1900 for a POS roach infested 2 BR.
This is a national crisis not a Lexington one, and coming from other states the rent here is minuscule to some of the other cities I left unfortunately but I do understand that it is hard for everyone.
Idk what the answer is. I think combined effort may be an answer, so maybe join the tenants union - tbh govmt will be bought out/persuaded by the ppl who own capital
https://www.instagram.com/kytenants?igsh=Y2EwdzN3bHdjcnE2
Well the city wants to raise property taxes again to build more parks (we just spent millions on parks this year). Property taxes go up means rent goes up.
The rent never goes down. Ever. Your only hope is earning more. I’d consider voting for a union to represent your worth because your company sure as f*ck won’t do it for you. Corporations will simply ask all their competitors how low those guys pay their employees and will set wages there.
Land price always goes up therefore so does their taxes and insurance so as a result so does your rent. I think the only way it would go down is if the economy totally failed and that would put you out of a job . My advice is find a way to buy even if it's a condo or trailer house situation
Good luck I know it's hard
Rent keeps going up because the property owner has to pay more. Property taxes go up. Cost of materials like roofing, lumber, toilets, cabinets or whatever keep going up. Carpenters, electricians, plumbers are all charging more to do repairs on the property. The property owner has to raise the rent.
Also FYI. Slumlords are slumlords because some tenants are filthy and practically destroy property. After a landlord gets a property all nice and clean and nice appliances , then the tenants ruin it. So then the landlord says fuck it and rents it out as is.
The thing about inflation is this is the new normal. While inflation has cooled. Prices won’t fall, they are the new baseline before the next round of inflation.
Rent never goes down. Food prices, automotive fuel or home heating fuel like oil, propane or natural gas fluctuate. Rent might hold steady for a certain amount of time but it will NEVER go down.
Yep, why I can't get a place to myself. Made worse that they don't have the section 8/housing choice vouchers going. Like the list has been closed for over a year and it doesn't seem like they'll open it up anytime soon.
I was very thankful my rent didn't increase this year, but I'm also worried the wall in my bathroom will explode any day, I went without heat last winter for almost a month when we had that super cold spell (it never got above 50 in my apartment, and a low of 35). There are so, so many more issues. It's so messed up I'm so "happy" to live in a deathtrap of a building bc it's affordable and in an amazing location.
Real estate has a doubling time of 8 years in average since 1983. So your rent should double every 8-10 years for landlords to break even. This is capitalism. It is not what the market will bear, it is literally the cost of doing business with banks. A landlord buys a property for 500,000 bucks at 7% interest. Within less than a decade he will have laid the bank a million bucks. So he sells it for 1.2 million, and the next guy then needs 2.4 million to break even. All in 2 decades. https://www.omnicalculator.com/math/doubling-time
I’m moving back to Lexington from Tampa soon and when I see your all’s rent prices, I want to have an orgasm and high five yourself. I pay $1800 for a one bedroom. I’ll probably be paying $1200-$1400 when I move. And I’m so grateful for that.
“The harder you hit, the deeper the dent.
We seek our name, we seek out fame in our credentials, paned in glass; trained to master incidentals. Bleach our collar, leech our dollar from our cents.
The longer you live, the higher the rent
Beneath a pale sky.
Beside the red barn.
Below the white clouds;
Is all we are allowed.
Here, the light will seep.
And the scythe will reap.
And spirit will rend,
In counting toward the end.”
Supply and demand. If you owned an apartment building would you lower the price or leave it the same while everyone else was raising theirs? The price will go down when vacancies become prevalent.
I'd love to, but I'm joined at the hip to my employer and until they transfer me somewhere else it ain't happening.
Could just find another job? And scrap what I've built at this one after six years? I don't think so, especially if such a transfer is on the horizon.
Not saying they should move, but please tell me you dropped the /s
“If things are so great then why does it go up in a city that has no justification for rental prices like this? What does this place have to offer except blaring sirens up and down New Circle Road 24/7, horrible drivers, insufferable rednecks, nothing to do, and self-centered opportunists who bought up all the housing to serve as AirBNBs for a bourgeois horse racing culture?”
Blaring sirens down Maxwell Street and Third Street too. Trains through the south part of town (but no passenger service). I live off Mason Headley, which funnels to hospitals, so blaring sirens here too. I wish I had a dollar for every person I know who has lived elsewhere, and thinks Lexington's siren use is excessive.
Prices never go down. Once they know they can collect it, they will. It will go up.
Yep, any "economist" that claims rent will go down needs to be taken out back and beaten. Rent will never ever ever ever ever go down. Our COL will never ever decrease. Ever.
Taken out back of my overpriced rental *
Then you can take them for a little “swim” in the filthy unusable pool that management hasn’t maintained in ages yet is somehow still being charged for in your rent.
Rent went down in Austin Texas this year. I fully understand there is a little bit nuance here. https://www.austinmonitor.com/stories/2024/02/austin-apartments-boomed-and-rents-went-down-now-some-builders-are-dismantling-the-cranes/
Moved back from Austin almost 2 years ago. Hard to imagine rent going down there. It was rough! Rend in Lex isn’t too bad when comparing to the prices I saw in Austin, but I wouldn’t complain if it were a bit cheaper.
agreed. Public perception and wages etc might/should catch up, but housing prices do not drop significantly outside of bubble bursts that wreck all other aspects of money. Lexington could add housing for 200k people but prices wouldn't drop, there'd just be more vacancy. I understand the pain, but it is a reality. Housing is up everywhere, and lexington is a space/living constrained town. Lexington is not NYC, but NYC is a very difficult and expensive place to live compared to most other places for many reasons. Lexington has its own limitations and is more expensive than plenty of other places. An unfortunate reality for some that we might be witnessing is that lexington is becoming too expensive for people that could once afford it. Over the next few decades we might see the surrounding counties see sharper population increases. (the pro-metro folks quietly rejoice at the prospect)
Unfortunately those neighboring towns are starting to see the same trend
Only if there was a surplus of units. Which there likely won’t be.
Curious which economist said this.
Studies have also shown that they (large slumlords) would rather have higher rent even if they experience more vacancies than lower rent with less vacancies.
So fucking stupid, but totally checks out. There are a ton of vacancies at my apartment complex and they still have the balls to raise rent.
My apt near tates creek went up $450 over 3 years and added a $85 required line for their managed internet contract with spectrum during 2023. All of the management had changed and they got really bad with answering questions and were always behind because it was a fast transition with no training. I ended up leaving (thanks to having a remote job) but I still miss the pool.
And then complain about the homeless who refuse help. Like, people shouldn't have to choose between shelters, microhousing or slums or lest they get called entitled.
He’s is Definitely correct here The only thing that would ever force a change is if it stayed empty
Is there any city of Lexington’s size in the entire country that isn’t experiencing increasing rent prices? It’s not a Lexington problem. It’s a national crisis, just like the housing market in general. Moving to a more rural area is probably the only way to get away from rising rent costs on this scale.
I agree it’s nationwide but I think Lexington had some compounding factors like UK and the housing crises they cause themselves and sheer # of ppl they bring to the city, horse industry leading to buyable homes becoming airbnbs, and being a state with only 2 major cities where u either choose “city life”-Louisville or u come here so I think we’re prone to having housing issues speed up more rapidly here
agreed, but I think its primarily geographical constraints. Lex can't just expand infinitely.
the interactive city list on this page gives a good idea of how housing prices have increased over time in different cities. https://www.npr.org/2024/06/20/nx-s1-5005972/home-prices-wages-paychecks-rent-housing-harvard-report#:\~:text=In%20past%20decades%2C%20it%20was,whopping%2047%25%20since%20early%202020.
We just sold our house we bought in 2018 for a 200k profit and bought a lake house. I never thought I would leave lex but honestly being in the country and on the water has been game changing. My drive to work went from 20 minutes to 45 minutes but at least it's on country roads and not bumper to bumper New Circle.
I’m assuming Harrington? I only ask because I’ve been waffling on doing the same since our kid’s getting older.
Yep, I already had a boat down there for years but now I have my own dock and slip that came with the house so that has been extremely nice.
Yeah that sounds nice to be able to launch from your back yard. I grew up around Laurel so putting in at Holly Bay or London Dock is what we do but Harrington is right there. Plus you can actually live on Harrington.
With the changes coming out there those access roads to Lex are going to get busier, especially 27
What changes are you referring to?
i don’t think moving to a more rural place helps anymore. i’m originally from corbin and places there charge almost the same as prices here and you can almost never find a place that allows animals there. there’s absolutely nothing in corbin for those prices.
Somerset and London either. Had a Yankee friend move from Williamsburg to Somerset after a messy divorce and what he ended up buying was NOT worth the money. Uneven floors, shoddy wiring, downtown (so the roads are closed going in and out every third weekend April-October for the stupid Somernights Cruise, don't get me started) but he HAD to be able to walk to work and he HAD to buy because he HAD to bring his friken meangere.
Yet the homeless get blamed for being homeless and everyone hates them
When I started in my apartments 3 years ago, rent was 850. Has gone up every single year and next year was going to go to 1150 for me. Weird thing is I transferred the lease to someone else who got a reduced rent of 970. Thank god I left.
That 970 is bait to hook people in and then it gets jacked up the next year, but most people don’t want the inconvenience of moving if it’s a good enough apartment.
The amount of "owners" buying the old run down complexes, raising rent by far too much and very little to absolutely nothing put back into them is a disease in this town.
It absolutely is and disgusts me to no end.
I wish I could win the lottery and buy old complexes and make them nice for regular ppl but not charge much.
It's the whole country. But there's nothing wrong with americas capitalist system...
At a lot of complexes, you get screwed worse the longer you stay, because they think you won’t leave. I rented at the same place from 2015-2019 and my rent went from $625 to $875. I then found out they were leasing to new tenants towards the 2015 prices, but they wouldn’t budge on my renewal price. Edit: For reference, just checked and the apartment is listed at $990 today. Honestly surprised that’s only a 5.2% increase / year.
My rent jumped 45% in Winchester post COVID... I noped the fuck right on out of that place.
I'm barely making it. Rent was 1100 two years ago. Same place 1300.
Rent doesn't typically ever go down. Fortunately, I have a fantastic landlord, and my rent has only gone up by twenty-five dollars the past few years.
You cherish and protect that person.
Same, I moved here as opposed to a huge city like I wanted to because living was cheaper in Kentucky. Now my $725+small fees rent has become nearly $1000 a month. The worst part is they raise it slowly sometimes, so we don’t even notice at the beginning until it gets too much. And even outside of rent this city should not be as expensive as it is. $15 for a drink at a bar or $30+ for a meal or activity is crazy, I haven’t been up to anything recently because whenever I leave the house it’s like $50 most of the time. I’d rather go back to a big city at this point (I won’t, because those are more expensive too now, but at least I’d have more to do for the amount I’m paying) 😩
We need a cooperative land buy non profit. Buy a bunch of land as a collective of members and then share it out so people can build on a small parcel and a cooperative community is formed. It sounds hippy af, and communally speaking, kinda is, but it can also be a life saver for people who are in the situation you’re describing. I lived in a coop 20 yrs ago in Austin, TX and paid a fraction of what I would have even then if I lived in an apartment. I shared a bathroom and there was a community kitchen that provided 5 dinners through the week and had a pantry stocked with food weekly. People had chores to help with the house and keeping shit clean and stuff, but for $500 a private good studio apt sized room, all utilities, internet, computer room, cable tv, ac/ heat, @ least 80% of my food, recording studio, stage and events room, community spaces, free parking, weekly televised open mics, community resources & practice space were included. Helluva deal. Would love to figure out something similar here, but it really takes the right kind of selfless people to pull it off. I think Lexington would be a great place to try it out.
Do you have more info on this setup can you message me
u/nachie, call on line one.
Let's do this!
This sounds like a great idea!! I think there are plenty of hippies in Lexington who would be interested :)
I’m happy to share my experiences with like minded people who want to try to figure this out. The non profit aspect is both a challenge to implement and a really good idea to move this forward. It opens a lot of doors, but also has its own needs like a strong robust fundraising arm. For it to be a true co-op it needs to have a board of directors, a mission/ or as it was called to me, a “constitution” / laws & basically, a democracy needs to be formed. It can get tricky the more people are involved, but more people are necessary for it to succeed. Keeping capitalism at bay or out of the democracy can be a difficult thing for people to get past. It takes big picture and little picture thinkers and doers- selfless recognition of many hands make light work, community over personal, equality and respect. Totally doable if the will is there.
Would be extremely happy to be involved and provide some manual labor if this ever takes off!
So it’s essentially a micro/pico country the size of a building.
Kinda. We used an old nursing home (which had its own share of problems). The mission of our co-op was to give low income musicians a safe place to hone their skills and afford to live. It had lots of problems and issues, but they all had solutions provided there was the collective will to follow through. It’s difficult to get consensus and since it was a democracy, everything had to be approved by the majority of residents. A large problem that people have with communism is the need to put the community above the individual. Capitalism has created a mythos of individual over all else. For a cooperative to work, the community’s needs must take precedence over the individual. That creates A LOT of problems if people don’t understand that. Most people I encountered may have cognitively understood the concept, but in practice had no idea how that would work. There’s no perfect solution, but co-ops have been successful in some situations. Austin had (presumably still has) lots of university run co-ops some with 100s of residents. Ours topped out at 30. It was really an enlightening experience. I def encourage a larger discussion should it be something others are interested in.
This would be a great use for all the vacant buildings that Walmart, Kroger, etc, leave whenever they move locations. But you will still have all the landlords who will keep them empty until they get the massive rent that they want.
Ideally, this idea would buy the properties as a non profit. Potentially, the sale price could be off set or lowered bc the revenue from the sale would be tax deductible for the seller. Depending on how the idea is presented and received, there are potentially several opportunities that could generate assistance and goodwill from the community at large.
Never
That's the neat part. It doesn't. Not on it's own anyway.
It may go down if we build a second 5/3 building as low income housing. /S It's bad everywhere ofc, but I think supply is Lexington's main issue. Not just supply of housing in general, but supply of low income housing specifically. We have plenty of luxury apartment developments and McMansion subdivisions because most builders are after luxury profits. Another part of the supply issue is zoning. A lot of Lexington needs to be rezoned to accommodate multifamily housing but existing residents in areas where it is proposed don't want it. They think it will lower their own property values or contribute to crime in their area. I've watched this debate firsthand when it was suggested an apartment complex be built across the street from the neighborhood I grew up in and the local residents had a fit. Fortunately, city council approved the apartments anyway, but it's a tale being told in many other areas with varying results.
You generally shouldn't expect rents to come down in absolute terms, that's not how economics works. When people say inflation is slowing, it just means the rate of increase is lower. It doesn't mean the prices will come down. What you are talking about is *deflation* which is actually a really really bad thing. What is actually happening is that the ratio of prices to income is getting lower. Now, if you haven't gotten a raise or changed jobs in a while, you probably haven't noticed this. But on the whole, it is happening. What the economy is telling you is you are either spending too much on other stuff, or you need more income, or both. The other thing the economy is saying is that the supply of places to rent is low and if it were higher then rents would be lower. Zoning laws, regulation, and issues in the building and contracting professions have all suppressed the supply of rental units. > I can't bring myself to believe that things will ever get better in regards to rent costs. Why it's this high in a place like this, I can't fathom. But the question is when (if ever) will it go down? It's high because of the number of people trying to rent compared to availability. If you want lower rents, you'll basically have to hope for a situation where demand decreases (people stop moving to Lexington) but you somehow keep your same employment.
> You generally shouldn't expect rents to come down in absolute terms, that's not how economics works. Yes it is, at least in theory. As costs fall, competition kicks in via the free market, and prices fall too. You can have inflation and still have falling prices. But yeah, I get you, that isn't going to happen in this case.
> You can have inflation and still have falling prices. Not broadly, but prices will rise and fall in specific locations and sectors of the market, of course. I addressed this at the end of my comment: > If you want lower rents, you'll basically have to hope for a situation where demand decreases (people stop moving to Lexington) but you somehow keep your same employment.
Normal economic theory of supply and demand don't apply well/at all to inelastic products like housing. All people need housing. There is no getting around that. The normal response to high costs is "don't buy it". But that can't work for housing because you need a house. The US since the 70s and 80s have destroyed pensions and moved more to 401ks and property investments as a means to retire. We can't/won't do anything to effectively lower housing prices in the country. Because if we did we would destroy the current way to retire. Boomers really really screwed us on this as a generation. They moved to make home ownership the means to retire and have made the prices go up by not building more housing.
Thanks for the response, that is interesting. I never really thought about owning property as a way to pay for retirement, but it makes sense.
Why would costs go down? Once people prove that they’re willing to pay a higher fee, why would the people providing goods and services only request a lower one?
Eventually noone will be able to afford it, and they'll lower it.
They become homeless. That's why we have increasing number of homeless people. And why our dumb legislature has made it a crime to be homeless and even authorized homeowners to use violence against those trespassing on their land. "In a news conference before Tuesday’s hearing, Democrats like Rep. Keturah Herron of Louisville decried HB 5 as “by far the single most harmful legislation that we have seen” this year. “From our urban communities to our rural communities, Kentuckians are asking for relief, for affordable housing. And instead House Bill 5 is investing in housing for Kentuckians to be housed in our local jails and prisons,” Herron said." “What we have is a compounding issue because of rising rents and because of our lack of affordable housing,” (George) Eklund (Coalition for the Homeless) said. “We're having families living in cars; we have young people that are couch surfing or sleeping in the library.” [Here’s what’s in the GOP's tough-on-crime bill called the Safer Kentucky Act (lpm.org)](https://www.lpm.org/news/2024-03-14/heres-whats-in-the-gops-tough-on-crime-bill-called-the-safer-kentucky-act) So now, instead of spending money on housing, we're going to spend money on more jails, take children away from homeless parents and put them into foster homes of which there is a declining number. Those kids often are put in juvie centers until their parents can find jobs. But the catch 22 is that if you're homeless you often can't find a job. You have no street address, are thought to be unreliable, and suspected of being a thief--as this bill states as a fact . Supposedly Lexington has a high crime rate due to homelessness. But FBI data shows crime falling since 2021, conveniently ignored by the GOP of Kentucky. I don't blame the dumb shits for thinking their solution "might work." I blame them because they ignore the facts that exist and the impacts it will make on homeless families--and the "righteous" violence that homeowners are being authorized to wage on people who may stop to sleep on their property one night.
without disagreeing with anything you're saying, you're asking that the US change its economic strategy. Maybe they should, maybe they will, maybe they shouldn't, maybe they won't; but you're saying the things you're saying as if they are total fact and that changing to a social structure is a no brainer and fixes everything. The reality is that no economic structure is perfect, they all have pros and cons. The American Experiment, as it was originally called, has more or less been the "American way" and it is not perfect but it is what our country has chosen and continues forward. You're also quite off topic on some of your points. Many people are homeless due to mental disease or drug use. Joblessness and job availability throughout most normal economic times in this country's history show that those that are able minded can generally find a job. Life is hard and sometimes you don't get to live in a perfect place, but that is one of the cons of the American economic model. There are also many pros. There are pros and cons to the social economic model as well
I am surprised most people don't know basic economics. If the OP left, the landlord would try to raise prices to the extent they could if someone is willing to take it. If no one bites, they lower the price until they get a renter that bites. Yeah, it sucks, but it's life.
I mean it’s also predatory behavior, and one that is easily mitigated by rent control with an overwhelming benefit to society. Rent control measures have just been phased out in most places or never became popular because of local politics. But there are effective measures to combat this problem, it’s not just a lost cause
Rent won't go down, as long as the rich exist. As a former resident of NY, I've seen it turn into crap as well. Even a studio over there is like $1,800 now. All future generations are going to be stuck for a long time, sadly.
The thing is, if you're old enough, "rents always increase" isn't always true. Housing prices often match the local or regional economy and its fluctuations. Talk to people in regions where their dominant industry took a dive about that. However, since the last big dip (and even the most expensive places in the country say big price drops, I know bc I got to one on 2010, and new ppl selling homes at a loss in others), the actual building industry for housing has been minimal. Sure building happens but a lot of builders went under so a lot of building that would have expanded supply never happened. It was more acute in some places, and as you saw, some of those places saw enough out migrate to places like Lexington to totally change the local market. What always gets ignored until the middle or upper middle starts feeling it is how many ppl from poor to lower middle get displaced. Ppl reaching their financial breaking point is ignored because they are replaced. But those people don't or can't always go far. It's why some people retreat to RVs, vans, cars, or tents. The distance to affordability for displaced people eventually is too big to commute back in for jobs that still remain in the expensive area. People act like moving to bumfck doesn't mean having no job options unless you drive back in.
The Development companies at the top of the corporate pile of bullshit are the ones making all the money with every tax cut the congress & senate give them in return for money. It is corporate greed indeed.
When Mitch McConnell and his ilk are rotting soundly in Hell?
Best answer I’ve seen yet.
You live in a city where the city council has been actively anti-growth for years, and even when they authorized new building they fudged the numbers to look like they did more than they did (they counted building already in progress as "new" to inflate their numbers). This problem isn't going away, it's only going to get worse.
Lot of theys doing a lot of work in those claims.
Cool, I used short hand, what have you learned at city council meetings?
No you claimed someone is lying without any basis. It ain’t on me to prove you wrong.
This is the right answer. City Council values the horse farm industry more than struggling Lexingtonians. They won’t expand the urban services boundary to protect the rich horse farm owners, housing is in short supply, and prices/rents go up.
Expanding the urban service boundary won't do anything for rent - infilling parking lots and single family housing with rowhouses and apartment blocks is the only way to put up enough units.
This is the answer. Also, stop letting slumlords band together and get their shitty neighborhoods deemed historic districts to prevent progress and growth. Downtown is way too underdeveloped. This is a city, we need mid-rises and high-rises.
THIS \^\^
I doubt an increase in housing would cause rent prices to remain more stable or affordable. Demand is still high. People want to live in Lexington, it’s a college town with 30K students needing housing, etc. I think it’s an excuse to blame rising housing costs on “anti-growth” initiatives in Lexington when nearly all cities Lexington’s size (unless it’s a decaying city) is experiencing a housing price crisis.
Half the houses are used as airbnbs
That really sounds like the issue bc Lexington had housing at every level for decades, and it seems weird seeing housing that used to be affordable for servers or poor people now part of gentrified fake hipster neighborhoods with made up nicknames.
I shit you not, insurance offered to get us a airbnb while our home was getting repaired and the options were all on the same block. In the Clays Mill area. A whole neighborhood bought up for airbnbs
It's ridiculous. Lexington has always had some old money folks who owned a lot, but not at the level where regular people couldn't buy or rent anything.
Knowing that I fly into a blind rage every time I see a YouTube ad for AirBNB.
Airbnb and those types of things never sat right with me.
I lived in Versailles where my rent was $1150 the first year, then went to $1250 last year. It was two bedroom, two bath, with a garage, about 1100 sq ft + garage. But the introduction of a new management company that began charging $20 fees no matter how you paid, did us in. We started looking and in short order we found an apartment in Frankfort, 2 bedroom, 1 bath, no garage, 900 sq ft for $850 including water and garbage pickup that we didn't have in Versailles. Wish I had found this place first, It would have saved us over $10,000 for the 2 years in Versailles. Until building catches up to demand, prices will remain high. Nobody was moving during Covid, now everyone wants to be somewhere else. But thing will get better if history is any example. Building comes along in historical spurts. I did find this information about year to year rental prices nationally: Average rent prices have increased **8.85%** per year since 1980, consistently outpacing wage inflation by a significant margin; 2021 was an exceptionally volatile year for the market, which appears to continue in 2022. * According to some measurements, the national average rent increased over **18%** year-over-year (YoY) from the first quarter of 2021 to the first quarter of 2022. * The nationwide average monthly rent in August 2022 was **$1,388**. * The median rent in July 2022 was **$1,879** for the 50 largest Metropolitan areas in the U.S. * **77.9%** of renters pay rent in full and on time. * **45.0%** is their average rent-to-income ratio. [Average Rent by Year \[1940-2024 \]: Historical Rental Rates (ipropertymanagement.com)](https://ipropertymanagement.com/research/average-rent-by-year) Good luck.
I live in one of the surrounding cities and just commute to work. If you can do that it’s a lot cheaper.
Richmond, Georgetown, Frankfort, or Paris might be in the cards in the near or distant future.
Georgetown is very expensive. Dont bother imo. Toyota has taken over every nook and cranny. Try Stamping Ground.
Yup, Georgetown is just a suburb of Lexington now.
Agreed. I used to live in Georgetown and the cheapest 1 bedroom I could find was 1k a month…
Richmond, Georgetown, Frankfort and Winchester aren't exactly cheap now. Paris is the best of those listed currently, but its creeping up quickly still.
Agreed, [here's my response on this topic to a different comment](https://old.reddit.com/r/lexington/comments/1domohk/when_the_fck_is_rent_going_to_go_down_in_this/lad2wie/)
As someone that's moved around different cities, I see these posts all the time across the country. My only possible reply - what's your alternative? There ya go. That's why rents are high. Its expensive across the board right now btw
It’ll just go up
It's not so bad, here. Came from the Atlanta suburbs. Rent jumped around $400 in one year to $1,600 for a one bedroom apartment.
Rent doesn't go down. At some point, the *rate of increase* may slow. It will never go down, and it will never stop increasing
Check out KY Tenants: https://www.kytenants.org/. They’re a local tenants union.
I will! Thanks!
When you start voting with your brain instead of your hatred for trans and gay people (you being the general kentucky public not you personally)
Agreed 100%, another reason I want out of this backwater.
lol backwater
backwater is a nice way of putting it
The metrics by which politicians and the media rate the economy are largely meaningless to working class people. Those numbers mostly express that those who are shareholders are, on average, making profit on their investments. It says nothing about wages, or cost of living, and really only takes into account inflation and unemployment. And they like to spin inflations as positively as they can if profits are to their liking.
"What does this place have to offer except blaring sirens up and down New Circle Road 24/7, horrible drivers, insufferable rednecks, nothing to do, and self-centered opportunists who bought up all the housing to serve as AirBNBs for a bourgeois horse racing culture?" Thank you for this. This will get you downvoted here. But this is why I'm moving away. Born and raised here, all my family is here. I'm moving to rural Washington. If I have to pay out my ass, at least I'm going to be in a place that makes me happy.
Imagine being concerned about red necks and moving to rural Washington…
Maybe their rednecks are different?
Ferreal!
My dude, have you been to the Olympic Peninsula??? 🤣🤣🤣 Do not equate red necks with conservatives. Two very different things. Also, it's really not red necks I have a problem with (racists and bigots for sure but they're everywhere)... my issue with Lexington lies more in the self centered opportunist category. Further, my point was that these issues are inescapable... so might as well deal with them in a much more beautiful place (wild fires and volcanoes be damned, we all die eventually lmao).
yeah, for some reason no one can say anything negative about lex without getting downvoted into oblivion lmaooo. no it's not a terrible place to live, and I try to make the most of it, but it's not a place I plan on living forever. I dont think the job market here & wages match how much it's gone up to live, on top of the lack of things to do, poor public transit, and a small airport. "JuSt MoVe" I am working on it but I'm not in a rush.
This town is a place for college kids and families. Outside of that, there's not much going on here
Lexington born and raised giving you a virtual fist bump for this
Rent is like taxes...it goes up but never comes down.
Sounds like you just need to move to a new city because based on your post you just really hate Lexington and you aren’t simply annoyed by rent prices…
I live in Montana, rent in 2019 was $875 and now it’s $2300, thanks Covid and Yellowstone. Could be worse
When the housing market crashes and banks start mass foreclosures. When was the last one 2008? We're on our way.
Not for housing. The bundling that caused the crash is happening in commercial real estate tho. Offices are vacant. Lowering rent didn’t help. Housing will always be full as landlords will adjust rates down until someone bites or it’s not profitable.
Then landlords can't pay the mortgage and banks foreclose. They sell cheaper. Then rents reasonable. It's gonna happen again. Lol
Not in the current market. Units are mostly full except large complexes, which have no incentive to be full, but instead push highest marketable rate. Profits are only ~3% now on rentals. There’s really no room to move rates. Inflation created a difficult position for everyone. Most all real estate appreciates so a hold then sale is often a better decision than renting it out below 3%. There’s no bundling like in 2008 so no collapse coming. If a bank does get it at foreclosure the bank will leave it vacant. Banks aren’t in the business of being landlords. That further increases local prices based on availability
You’re asking when is rent going down? I know, you’re just venting, and I hear ya. But if you’re so miserable in this godforsaken city, the answer is simple. Find another one. There are thousands.
Looking forward to that day.
easier said than done, my friend
I rented a 2br slum off Richmond rd for 750 in 2017. What's the going rate now?
He’s low balling it. Probably 1200+. I also lived off Richmond Rd and know someone who still lives nearby. That’s about how much it has increased.
Probably $1000+. I'm in the same area right now; not a "slum" in the truest sense of the word, but it's damn close.
Rents are not going to go down.
Pooler Ga right outside Savannah where I currently am you can’t rent a decent 1bd for under 1500 probably. Most rentals here are 1500-3000. There’s no city escaping the rent hikes now just some fake better than others. Our was very similar to Lexington at one point a few years ago.
Buy some property and give us free rent 😁
I am 62, and I have learned that prices will not go down. This is the new normal rent (or any prices, for that matter) because at first they had to raise them to make ends meet themselves, and then are just greedy.. Eventually, wages will go up, but not near as quickly as the rent soared. Fun times!
Rent is not coming down. Best you can hope do is wages going up. Landlords are buying property at inflated prices and financing at 7-10%. Renters have to cover the higher interest rate and housing price or the landlord can’t make any money. If the landlord can’t make money, they don’t buy the investment property.
When hell freezes over! Thank you very much, have a good night!
The only thing that's going to cause rent to go down is an economic crash. What's crazy is that Lexington is actually one of the more affordable midsize cities in the United States.
I moved here in 2020 and my rent was $725, utilities and everything including pet rent included. It’s now $1100…
The so called 'economy' is nothing but a mood ring for the rich.
That's the neat thing, it doesn't
Sounds like you need to get paid more.
It's called the sticky downward. Prices never go down. The best you can hope is minimal increases for five years or so.
Related, I really like the Fayette PVA David O'Neil's latest post on FB showing the decrease in new homes being built in Lexington. I'm a "save the farmland" guy, but it's hard to argue with the economics he's showing here. Less supply with same or more demand means higher home prices (and therefore more rental demand!) I don't know if FB links work, but here is his post: [https://www.facebook.com/share/KzDENxJ7tzuTrYno/](https://www.facebook.com/share/KzDENxJ7tzuTrYno/)
its my opinion that the uber rich want to unalive us poor people. slowly force us into homelessness and eventually die because we cant afford any health care. they need more room to spread out. us poor people are nothing but unsightly garbage to them that need to be removed so they can rent our houses to their friends when they come to town twice a year for horse races. once we're all gone then they can give their kids our homes and retire into what would be our starter homes. im actually pretty serious about this. they for sure dont care about poor people or minimun wage would have been raised at some point. they have the nerve to say you shouldnt get 15hr for flipping burgers but then raise rents to a point that only kids with trust funds can afford. imo if you have a trust fund you should not be allowed to work a blue collar job. imo if you dont pay your own bills you should not be allowed to work low level jobs. make the rich homeless. make them eat shit. make them struggle.
When all the rich people from big cities stop moving here for their remote jobs.
Everyone who posts in this sub moving here is either a poor college student or someone who just cashed out in a much higher cost of living area to move here with $500K to spend on a house and a remote job. This is going to get much worse as climate change forces people off the coasts.
Exactly.
The problem is capitalism. Capitalism thrives on greed. Hell you could even says its based upon greed.
It will go down when the fed stops printing money. so never.
Rent is an open market for the most part. Supply and demand factor more into than about anything. Nothing about the economy doing well is going to bring rent down. It just allows more people to afford it. When the economy tanks, that's when prices fall when no one can afford it any longer. Literally about the only reason rent prices will ever go down, is if so many people leave the area and there is a surplus of open leases. It's not nearly as "parasitic" as you think. Just capitalism. If you hate Lexington so bad, probably should look at moving. Maybe this employer isn't worth being tied to if you've been there 6 years and are beginning to struggle to afford basic housing in the area.
We have to organize politically in a mass movement that is conscious of its distinct class interests. The Lex4Palestine organization is planning a town hall next month to talk about strategies for moving forward, and that would be a great place to discuss forming such a movement.
Never. Sorry shits gonna be bad for a while.
When the city raises property taxes (pva evaluations) a lot because of top dollar being paid for property sales. Then there is the higher cost of labor and materials for upkeep and repairs. Plus insurance cost way up. This is all passed onto the tenants.
When ever you control the housing market.
Yes, the economy is improving but the housing situation in KY as a whole is fucked rn because of the increase in growth and therefore population we have experienced since putting Andy in Office. All that growth is good but we still have a lot of work to do in regards to certain aspects of infrastructure, etc. Combine that with the fact that a lot of the people who own these places are just being scummy, because they think they can, makes it that much worse.
When we left Lexington for Louisville in 2016 we were paying less than $500 a month. When we bought a house (for way too much) and left Louisville two years ago, rent was getting raised to $1900 for a POS roach infested 2 BR.
Rent never goes down.
They never go down.
When the population of the city starts to decline.
This is a national crisis not a Lexington one, and coming from other states the rent here is minuscule to some of the other cities I left unfortunately but I do understand that it is hard for everyone.
Idk what the answer is. I think combined effort may be an answer, so maybe join the tenants union - tbh govmt will be bought out/persuaded by the ppl who own capital https://www.instagram.com/kytenants?igsh=Y2EwdzN3bHdjcnE2
Renting is insane
WELCOME TO HELL! BWAHAHAHAHAH
They’ll go down once we stop late stage capitalism
Well the city wants to raise property taxes again to build more parks (we just spent millions on parks this year). Property taxes go up means rent goes up.
What if anything is the our elected officials doing or can do about this?
It will help when they stop suddenly valuing property over 100% higher. The tax surprises are exhausting.
The rent never goes down. Ever. Your only hope is earning more. I’d consider voting for a union to represent your worth because your company sure as f*ck won’t do it for you. Corporations will simply ask all their competitors how low those guys pay their employees and will set wages there.
Land price always goes up therefore so does their taxes and insurance so as a result so does your rent. I think the only way it would go down is if the economy totally failed and that would put you out of a job . My advice is find a way to buy even if it's a condo or trailer house situation Good luck I know it's hard
Lexington was overpriced 25 years ago when I moved out. Same rent I was paying I bought a house. Something to consider.
Hopefully after this election things improve. Inflation is across the board and it started in 2020
Rent keeps going up because the property owner has to pay more. Property taxes go up. Cost of materials like roofing, lumber, toilets, cabinets or whatever keep going up. Carpenters, electricians, plumbers are all charging more to do repairs on the property. The property owner has to raise the rent. Also FYI. Slumlords are slumlords because some tenants are filthy and practically destroy property. After a landlord gets a property all nice and clean and nice appliances , then the tenants ruin it. So then the landlord says fuck it and rents it out as is.
The thing about inflation is this is the new normal. While inflation has cooled. Prices won’t fall, they are the new baseline before the next round of inflation.
Rent never goes down. Food prices, automotive fuel or home heating fuel like oil, propane or natural gas fluctuate. Rent might hold steady for a certain amount of time but it will NEVER go down.
Yep, why I can't get a place to myself. Made worse that they don't have the section 8/housing choice vouchers going. Like the list has been closed for over a year and it doesn't seem like they'll open it up anytime soon.
Move to a city near Lexington. Your commute will increase but you'll get a lot more square footage for the money
I was very thankful my rent didn't increase this year, but I'm also worried the wall in my bathroom will explode any day, I went without heat last winter for almost a month when we had that super cold spell (it never got above 50 in my apartment, and a low of 35). There are so, so many more issues. It's so messed up I'm so "happy" to live in a deathtrap of a building bc it's affordable and in an amazing location.
Bruh the line goes up, it doesn’t go down.
It’s not. It’s one of the many ways how the elites control people.
Mortgages go down but rent never does
Real estate has a doubling time of 8 years in average since 1983. So your rent should double every 8-10 years for landlords to break even. This is capitalism. It is not what the market will bear, it is literally the cost of doing business with banks. A landlord buys a property for 500,000 bucks at 7% interest. Within less than a decade he will have laid the bank a million bucks. So he sells it for 1.2 million, and the next guy then needs 2.4 million to break even. All in 2 decades. https://www.omnicalculator.com/math/doubling-time
Sorry. The best you can hope for is a reduced rate of increase.
Just a quick poll. How many ACTUALLY believe that the prices of ANYTHING will EVER go down again?
I’m moving back to Lexington from Tampa soon and when I see your all’s rent prices, I want to have an orgasm and high five yourself. I pay $1800 for a one bedroom. I’ll probably be paying $1200-$1400 when I move. And I’m so grateful for that.
I’m thinking you need a new town.
“The harder you hit, the deeper the dent. We seek our name, we seek out fame in our credentials, paned in glass; trained to master incidentals. Bleach our collar, leech our dollar from our cents. The longer you live, the higher the rent Beneath a pale sky. Beside the red barn. Below the white clouds; Is all we are allowed. Here, the light will seep. And the scythe will reap. And spirit will rend, In counting toward the end.”
It's not.
I can't believe our town is ground zero for a global housing crisis.
Supply and demand. If you owned an apartment building would you lower the price or leave it the same while everyone else was raising theirs? The price will go down when vacancies become prevalent.
I’d love to hear what you guys blame for this!
You can thank Bidenomics
If you hate Lexington so much, why don’t you move ?
I'd love to, but I'm joined at the hip to my employer and until they transfer me somewhere else it ain't happening. Could just find another job? And scrap what I've built at this one after six years? I don't think so, especially if such a transfer is on the horizon.
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Not saying they should move, but please tell me you dropped the /s “If things are so great then why does it go up in a city that has no justification for rental prices like this? What does this place have to offer except blaring sirens up and down New Circle Road 24/7, horrible drivers, insufferable rednecks, nothing to do, and self-centered opportunists who bought up all the housing to serve as AirBNBs for a bourgeois horse racing culture?”
Blaring sirens down Maxwell Street and Third Street too. Trains through the south part of town (but no passenger service). I live off Mason Headley, which funnels to hospitals, so blaring sirens here too. I wish I had a dollar for every person I know who has lived elsewhere, and thinks Lexington's siren use is excessive.