Many U.S. metropolitan areas have seen wealthy renters take up a bigger piece of the rental market in recent years. But the Hartford area isn’t one of them.
According to Redfin’s analysis of census, MLS and county records data from 2019 to 2023, the region saw its share of renters whose incomes are in the top 20 percent of the market, or an annual income of at least $175,086, fall by 30 basis points.
Meanwhile, the share of wealthy renters in the national renter population rose by the same amount, and now stands at 7.9 percent..
These wealthy renters now make up 5 percent of Greater Hartford’s renter households, one of the smallest shares in the nation, Redfin economists said, while rents increased by 29.3 percent from 2019 to 2023.
“Many affluent Americans are choosing leases over mortgages because the cost of buying a home has jumped significantly more than the cost of renting one in recent years,” Redfin Senior Economist Elijah de la Campa said in a statement. “With mortgage rates near 7%, renting frees up cash for other investments that may be more lucrative than real estate.”