Twin Cities rental housing market tightens

The market for rental housing in the Twin Cities in the second quarter of the year was even tighter than it was a year ago, according to data compiled by Marquette Advisors on the behalf of the Minnesota Housing Partnership.

The numbers indicate that it's especially tough to find low-cost rental housing.

The vacancy rate for Twin Cities apartments charging less than $1,000 per month fell to 2 percent in the second quarter. That was down from a rate of 2.7 percent a year earlier.

Chip Halbach, who runs the Housing Partnership, says the affordable rental market in the Twin Cities is the tightest he's seen in at least seven years.

"That means it's going to be very hard for folks to find a decent place to live without spending a huge portion of their income," he said.

Tighter market also comes at a time when rental subsidies are harder to come by.

"For the past decade or so the number of people who've been able to receive a federal or state rent subsidy has really not increased in any appreciable amount at the same time the number of households that you would consider low-income has gone up by a large percentage," he said.