Many people in our community and across the country struggle to find affordable apartments to rent, and those who are ready to buy a home often cannot find one in their price range that doesn’t need expensive renovations.

The average price to rent an apartment in New Jersey is over $2,500 per month, while the average home sells for just under $530,000. If you make $75,000 per year, that means your rent will be 40% of your yearly income, which often leaves little room for other important expenses like childcare or car payments.

Why Are NJ Housing Costs So Expensive?

There are several factors contributing to this increasing unaffordability:

• Zoning Laws Causing Lack of Supply: There are simply not enough homes being built to keep up with population growth. In many cities, existing residents began to block the building of new housing as far back as 1916 by creating commissions and zoning laws that would limit population growth and preserve historical landmarks. Some of these zoning laws included restrictions on multi-family housing, which were meant to keep families of color out of white neighborhoods. Those actions had far-reaching consequences that are coming to fruition today.
• Rising Construction Costs and Regulations: The cost of new home construction has increased, partly due to higher prices for building materials and labor. Additionally, regulations and zoning laws in New Jersey can slow down new construction projects, which means fewer available homes.
• Higher Mortgage Interest Rates: Many people who bought their homes several years ago are locked into low interest rates, so selling now would mean potentially paying double the interest. This factor is keeping many people who would otherwise sell their homes from doing so.
• Private Equity Firms Buying Up Real Estate: Over the past 15 years, investment firms increasingly have begun buying homes, often out-bidding individual buyers with all-cash offers that are hard to compete with. These firms usually convert the purchased homes into rental properties to gain long-term profits. This practice has led to higher rents and reduced opportunities for individual homebuyers.
• Gentrification: Gentrification is the process of a low-cost neighborhood, usually populated by lower income folks (often immigrants and/or people of color), being developed with new housing, shops, restaurants, etc. and becoming unaffordable for the original residents. The original residents are typically forced to move as rents and the cost of living go up beyond their means, and they are replaced with wealthier folks that can afford the higher costs.

So what can you do if you are having trouble finding affordable housing?

• Please check out our housing resources page, which has both advice and a long list of resources and organizations that can help.
• Apply for Montclair Housing Authority’s Affordable Housing Voucher Program- the application date is Thursday, June 20th at 8:30am. 225 applications will be accepted.
• Check out this affordable housing lottery in Middlesex County – you must apply by July 29th.

Need help improving your current home? Check out the Essex County Improvement Program, which assists low to moderate income homeowners with things like roofing, plumbing, electrical, etc.

You can also contact your congressional representatives and ask them to support the Stop Predatory Investing Act, which aims to reduce the problem of investors buying up properties and increasing prices for regular folks.