According to a recent survey, San Diego has the seventh-highest percentage of renters in the US who earn more than $150k annually.
SAN DIEGO — More and more residents of San Diego who earn six figures annually opt to rent rather than buy.
They are referred to as high-income renters or households with an annual income of over $150,000.
San Diego is a high-income renter hotspot, placing seventh nationally behind cities like San Francisco, Seattle, and New York, according to a survey by the apartment search website Rent Café.
“Everyone is aware of the housing issue, particularly in California. What then, if their housing stock or supply isn’t available? You lease,” explained Doug Ressler from Yardi Matrix, the organization that conducted the survey.
The analysis concluded that 12.4 percent of San Diego’s renters are high earners, with the number of these renters rising sharply from 18,000 in 2015 to 33,400 in 2020 using data from the city’s 2020 census.
Ressler claims that while the expensive and competitive housing market does contribute, it wasn’t the main cause.
What was it then? Ressler stated, “Safety and convenience.”
According to Ressler, luxury condominiums and apartments, in particular, provide some conveniences that owning a house does not. Additionally, less upkeep
According to Ressler, San Diego is attracting more high-earners as a result of an increase in the number of well-paying employment in the life sciences sector.
It’s about the sciences in terms of either you’re inventing pills, you know, antibiotics, you’re doing stuff with immune technology, and things like that, said Ressler. “San Diego, in terms of life science, rose from number five position nationally to number three, practically number two.
Ressler claims that high earners who rent do so despite having the financial means to buy.
However, some contend that even with a six-figure income, owning a home is out of reach, particularly with the skyrocketing cost of real estate in San Diego.
The typical property costs $857,700 in San Diego, according to the National Association of Realtors.
The study received feedback on Twitter.
Writing as Shea Benton:
“That’s because it’s hard to purchase here, even if you’re making $150k a year, unless you’ve been making that since college (very improbable) and constantly saving,” the speaker said.
To quote Ken Stone:
As though they had a choice.
