Affordable Rentals Hard to Find

A recent study from Harvard University explore the state of rental housing in America and found these numbers.

"About 26 percent of renters - or 10.1 million people - spent more than half their pre-tax household income on rent and utilities in 2009. That's because incomes slipped dramatically from their peak at the start of the decade even as rents kept rising.

The study offers the latest in a series of grim statistics about the scarcity of rental housing, especially for the working poor. The supply has not kept up with demand in part because of a shortage of apartments, a key source of new rentals. Developers cut back on such projects when the economy deteriorated in 2009, which drove down vacancies and boosted rents. Analysts say they expect rents to keep climbing as developers try to ramp up new projects and catch up with demand."