A new study on housing says rental markets are cooling off across the country, including in Western states where demand has been especially high since the beginning of the pandemic.
New Mexico stands out in the study for having a late but fast-moving boom in its rate of cost-burdened renters.
About half of New Mexico renters are cost-burdened, meaning they put more than a third of their paychecks towards rent. Over half of renters in Albuquerque and Santa Fe fall into this category.
Sophia Wedeen, a research analyst for the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies and contributed to the new report, said that’s a relatively new change.
“New Mexico's cost burden increases were actually slower than that of the rest of the country,” she said.
It stayed relatively stagnant for the two decades leading up to the pandemic, but is now on par with the national average.
“New Mexico’s affordability challenges have really accelerated and have made up all of that difference and in just those three years, 2019 to 2022,” she said.
New Mexico is also among the top states that have experienced a rise in homelessness since 2015. The 2023 point-in-time count showed 3,842 people experiencing homelessness, up from 2,629. From 2022 to 2023, the city saw a jump of over a thousand in of people experiencing unsheltered homelessness in the same count. Areport last year by the Legislative Finance Committee found a 48% increase in homelessness around the state.
“Rents nationally are outpacing incomes,” Wedeen said. “Rents are especially outpacing incomes among lower income households who may be more susceptible to homelessness.”
Protections for renters that began early in the pandemic have also wound down over the last couple of years, which is contributing to more renters becoming vulnerable to homelessness. That includes eviction moratoria and income support.
The report also warns that as climate change increases the risk of natural disasters, renter households and communities will need increased federal support. Just over half of renters in the U.S. have a general renters insurance policy.
This coverage is made possible by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and KUNM listeners.
