BY WALTER ELLIOTT
NEWARK – Those who find it tough trying to secure a rented house, apartment or room in Newark may have had their suspicions confirmed by a national publication for the second year running.
“Forbes Advisor” posted its annual “The Best and Worst Cities for Renters” survey June 7 and ranked New Jersey’s most populous city at the bottom of the 95 U.S. cities it had sampled between April 2023 and April 2024.
“Forbes,” in its 2024 report, gave Lincoln, Neb. a perfect 100 score, ousting Chandler, Ariz. – who also scored 100 points in its Oct. 5, 2023 survey.
Newark got no points – zero – as it had last year. This is in spite of some new housing having opened between the last two April.
Forbes, as in October, said it had analyzed 1,995 data points among 21 metrics on three levels of fact checking before putting the information. The data came in part from the U.S. Census Bureau, The Trust for Public Land, Neighborhood Scout, Zillow – and Forbes’ own survey of 2,000 renters from among those 95 cities.
The data and metrics, as part of the survey’s methodology, were placed in three categories: Affordability, Availability and Amenities and Lifestyle and Safety. The categories were given respective 40, 30 and 30 maximum points.
June 7’s standard setter – Lincoln, Neb. – got its perfect score in part by being fourth best in percentage of available rental units per 100,000 in the Availability and Amenities category. Nebraska’s capital city had 394 available units per 100,000 compared to the survey average of 164.
Lincoln was 10th best in percentage of income going to rent at 17.6 percent; the survey average is 21.3 percent.
Lincoln was tied with 10th-ranked Winston-Salem, N.C. with the ninth-best average monthly price per square foot. Lincoln and Winston-Salem renters are paying $1.33 per sq. ft. compared to the study’s $2.09. Newark has $2.15 per sq. ft.
Newark’s zero score was not a flatline across all of the three categories and 21 metrics. “Forbes found the city, at $250, was the largest April 2023-April 2024 rent increase; the 95-city average was – $43. It was in part why it was ranked last in the Affordability category.
Newark was ranked 87th in the Availability and Amenities, including 91st in two of the category’s metrics. There were 8.5 available rental units per 100,000 residents when the survey average was 164 units. Non-apartment rentals were 9.3 percent of the housing stock, compared to the survey average of 48.4 percent.
Forbes, in its October survey, cited Newark as having 55.72-percent of its residents “rent burdened” where 30 percent or more of a dweller’s income goes to rent. The average monthly rent for a one-bedroom apartment then was $1,348.
Newark did statistically advance from 96th placed ranking in October to 95 because Forbes limited this year’s survey to 95. (It was not immediately available why Forbes had “dropped” a city.
Just above Newark’s basement ranking is a surprise and a non-surprise.
Long Beach, Calif. – known for the HMS Queen Mary ocean liner-hotel, tits marinas and annual Indycar street race – scored 7.27 points. Its residents pay 25.8 percent of income for rent – tied as fifth worst with Anaheim and Los Angeles.
93rd ranked is New York City with 13.07. It’s $6.88 monthly per sq. ft is the worst of that metric among the 95 cities.
Five of the 10 “worst” cities are from California. The “bottom 25” largely came from either that state or from the Boston-Milwaukee part of “The Rust Belt.”
The “Top 25,” by contrast, have 21 cities below the North 40th Parallel – mostly the Sun Belt.
Jersey City, which was also surveyed last year, scored 24.71 this time to rank 88th.
The Forbes Advisor survey found that it was cheaper to rent a house or an apartment than it is to buy among 50 of its sampled cities. Thirty-four of the 2,000 renters they had surveyed, however, never intend to buy.
Part of the situation is due to home prices increasing 6.1 percent in a year. The surveyed non-buyers. Fifty-six percent of the respondents cited home prices, 42 percent cited a lack of a down payment and 29 cited rising interest rates.
Mayor Ras Baraka told a reporter June 14 that he puts the survey in a national context.
“Affordable housing is a national problem and is especially urgent in the New Jersey-New York area,” said Baraka. “Newark has become a prime target for developers and, in some instances, contribute to a market that has put homes out of reach for most working families.
“The Forbes ratings don’t take into account decades of intentional state and federal public housing policy that had perpetuated inequity and segregation.”
Newark, added Baraka, has invested $20 million towards creating housing for workers with $34,000 or under annual income. It has partnered with the non-profit Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America to auction city-owned residences to residents for as low as $1. Its recently enacted inclusionary zoning laws require 20 percent affordable housing among redevelopment projects.
