Chicken-Fried News: Luxury rentals

Chicken-Fried News: Green gobblin
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If you have the money, Oklahoma City has the new high-end apartment you’re looking for. In fact, RentCafé property marketing website reports that luxury is about all you’ll find.

Seven of seven of Oklahoma City’s completed rental construction projects last year were considered “high-end,” the website reported.

Nationally, in 2015, three out of four new apartments were “high-end, luxury construction.” That’s a 63-percent jump over 2012, according to RentCafé.

The website cites, in part, an uptick in “renters by choice,” meaning “wealthy households capable of owning, but choosing to rent.” That segment includes millennials, empty-nest Baby Boomers and retirees.

Five “emerging metro areas” hit the 100 percent mark last year, including Oklahoma City; Jacksonville, Florida; Kansas City, Missouri; Midland-Odessa, Texas; and Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Average rent in newly constructed Oklahoma City buildings is $1,055 a month.

The website also cited a 2015 story by The Wall Street Journal showing that new construction often comes with a rent increase of more than 20 percent over existing construction.

What this means, RentCafé also reported, is “the disparity between affordable [rents] and non-affordable is widening.”

And that gap most affects middle-income renters.

Print headline: Luxury rentals

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