Are Millions of Americans Going to Face Evictions in the Upcoming Months?
Jose Nino
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The economic situation in the United States is precarious to say the least. Mike Maharrey of SchiffGold revealed that 3.8 million Americans could potentially be facing eviction in the next few months.
Maharrey called attention to how the median rent in the US topped $2,000 in June — a first time feat. It’s another sign of the growing cost of living crisis engulfing the US.
Maharrey observed that “While the CPI cooled slightly in July, shelter costs rose another 0.5% month-on-month.”
On an annual basis, housing costs have surged by 5.7%, per government figures. One frightening aspect of cost of living indices that Maharrey called attention to is how the “CPI drastically understates the cost of housing.” Per data that Zillow was able to assemble, rents have actually grown by over 15% in the past 12 months.
The Census Bureau reported that households made up of 8.5 million people are struggling to make rent. Of those households falling behind on their rent, 3.8 million indicated they are somewhat or very likely to be evicted in the next two months
Yahoo Finance reported the following: “The combination of soaring inflation, the end of most eviction moratoriums and rental assistance payments and an extremely low vacancy rate has pushed rents up — and many renters out.”
The Census Bureau revealed that half of all renters have had to deal with rent increases in the past 12 months. 11% have experienced rent hikes north of $250 per month.
As a result of these alarming rent increases, people are resorting to using credit cards and loans, dipping into savings, selling assets, and even digging into their retirement funds just to pay for rent.
The Census Bureau reported that 57% of renters indicated that they were compelled to use these rash measures just to make rent.
Maharrey also provided some interesting economic background information about the current rent crisis. These rent hikes are coinciding during a time when “Americans added another $40.1 billion to their debt load in June alone.” This increase in the household debt burden marked a 10.5% year-over-year increase. Credit card balances grew by $46 billion in the second quarter of 2022. Over the course of the past year, credit card debt skyrocketed by 13%, the largest increase in over two decades.
Eviction levels are starting to rise as well. Per Princeton University’s Eviction Lab, evictions were 52% above average in Tampa Bay, 90% above average in Houston, and 94% above average in Minneapolis-St. Paul for the month of August.
The economic situation unfolding across America is not good. And that’s putting it lightly. Republicans need to go beyond the typical chatter about tax cuts, and start talking more about the structural economic problems the US is facing. This is the product of a bloated regulatory environment and an easy money system that generates mass inflation.
Any Republican that does not talk about the regulatory state or central banking’s impact on the American economy should not be taken seriously.
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