Frank Yan of Sacramento on How Much is Fair Rent in Sacramento?

Frank Yan of Sacramento posts an article from Sacramento Business Journal
Related article:  Frank Yan of Sacramento on Sacramento Home Prices Grown Rapidly Within 7 Years

A fair-market rent in most of the Sacramento area is $854 a month for a one-bedroom place and $1,899 for a four-bedroom home, according to proposed rents released this week by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The suggested rents aren’t necessarily meant to guide what landlords and property owners charge, but determine a standard rate HUD can use to determine payment standards for housing voucher programs, renewal rates for expiring Section 8 contracts, and similar government activities related to housing.

Figures are derived from responses to the American Community Survey between 2007 and 2011, with numbers updated annually for areas where there were enough responses each year to be statistically significant, according to a HUD posting about the rates in the Federal Register.

Consumer Price Index figures and utility rates are used to update the data between 2011 and the end of 2012, though the cost of most consumer goods has been relatively flat in recent years. The proposed fair-market rent is through April 1 of next year.



A cursory glance at rental prices on craigslist.org for the region suggests HUD’s rents can vary widely from the actual market, with a two-bedroom home near California State University Sacramento listed at $725, well below the $1,072 the department proposed. A one-bedroom apartment in midtown Sacramento is listed at $625, also well below the one-bedroom suggested rent.

Yolo County has a separate fair-market rent listing; there, a one-bedroom home is a proposed $757 a month.