Everything is happening just like Jesus said it was going to happen.(Matthew 24). Jesus said that "nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom".He was talking about the business world and the economy.Greed is one of the 7 deadly sins. Lust,Sloth,Pride,Envy,Glutton,and Anger. People are too sleep to realize this. What do people expect.If things are going to get better is has to be attacked here.

I love how the Sun manipulates the data using the name "Baltimore" when actually most of the $1500 rents are in the COUNTY! The city is still cheap and filled with....well I won't say but I think readers get my point. I've been condo shopping and I wouldn't dare pay $1500 to live in B more but have found some excellent choices in the county (AA, Howard etc.) which I plan to move VERY soon. Had enough of cheap city living. I decided to go with a condo because it controls who can live in the neighborhood which I LOVE! Most apartments let anything move in.....

Deb, I'm not manipulating data -- I'm reporting on an analysis that uses a regionwide average, which is a common way of compiling data. Regardless, downtown Baltimore apartments are among the most expensive in the region.

How did I know you were going to come back and say that because Fells Point etc is expensive but the "Baltimore" tag is misleading when articles sneak in county areas under the name Baltimore. You would be surprised how many people read a Sun article or see something on TV under "Baltimore" and I inform them that's the COUNTY!

Yes, but Deb -- I wrote "Baltimore-area" in the headline and "Baltimore region" in the blog post. The city's name is Baltimore, but the region is the Baltimore region (or, alternatively, the Baltimore metro area, though I've been avoiding that term lately in the fear that it would confuse people who think "metro" means "city").

Many statistics are compiled at the metro level, which is why you'll often see reporters reporting on metro-area figures. We're not trying to make the city of Baltimore look better or worse than it is. We're using the numbers that are available. (Plus, I cover the region, not just the city.)

So here's a question for everyone: Given that the choice is typically metro-area data or nothing, how would you like me to label it? Is there a term that's clearer than "Baltimore region" or "Baltimore metro area" without being as unwieldy as "the city of Baltimore and its five surrounding suburban counties"?

For anyone still confused, the Baltimore metro area (or region) is the city, Anne Arundel County, Baltimore County, Carroll County, Harford County and Howard County. The federal government also throws in Queen Anne's because there are a lot of folks who commute from there over the Bay Bridge, but it's small enough relative to the rest of the region that its inclusion or exclusion doesn't usually affect the average.

I bought a house two years ago this month and rented in mid town for about 10 before that. Anecdotaly, I would say this sounds about right for the newer, high end apt buildings (Class A, as the post calls it). I always lived in nice apartments carved out of grand old rowhouses and never paid more that 1k per month. Not sure what class that would be!

The rent is too damn high!

Currently paying $1,300 for a 2 BR apartment in Baltimore County, just outside the city in Mt Washington. We have a big 1280 sq foot place so that puts us just under $1.00 per sq ft, but I guess our complex is not a Class A, since it was built in the 1970's and 80's although it does have a nice pool and gym and we like it.

Federal Hill is a wonderful area, but costs even more than that! We are in an old building (with LOTS of issues constantly), and they were asking $2200 for a 2 bedroom that has had no updating since the 80's! We didn't agree to that full amount, but we still pay more than I think we should. Plus $125 parking/month and the power bill is over $400/month since everything runs on power and things like single paned windows are highly inefficient. It's nice for the work commute to be a walk up the street, but things are definitely overpriced if you want to live in a safe area of Baltimore! We will be moving out to Howard County before too long, where at least they have #1 schools and it's safer.

Wow, Deb sounds like a raging racist... Anyway, my neighborhood of Patterson Park (yes, in Baltimore City Deb) is currently renting out for pretty much exactly that, which is about a 20% raise over the last four years.

Yes, people of all types live there and there is no "control over who lives there", but the rents continue to rise as houses are fixed up and the anti-homeownership trend continues.

There are many areas of the city that the demand for good middle-class housing outstrips the supply, and those areas are seeing a huge jump in rental prices - so much so that middle class are being priced out (Fells Point, Federal Hill). I just hope that developers notice the trend and develop some of the surrounding communities that are more depressed to fill the demand, much like Locust Point became overflow for Federal Hill.

When we moved back to Baltimore in 2009, we rented a tiny Class A apartment in Mount Vernon for nearly $2,000 a month. I would love to live in the city but when our house sold in Virginia and we looked around at other rental options, they were similarly outrageous. We ended up buying a house in Baltimore County and now pay a monthly mortgage that's less than the average rent for nearly triple the space and a yard.

Deb, even Section 8 rentals go for over $1,000/month in Southeast Baltimore, so Jamie doesn't need to manipulate any data to come up with an average rent of $1,500/month. Go look at rentals in the 21224 zip code on GoSection8.com if you don't believe me.

As for your plan to move to the county, I say good riddance- although I feel sorry for your future neighbors.

Bought my 5 bedroom colonial back in 1996. My monthly cost per square foot is $0.62. Buy a home if you can manage it somehow. It pays off (literally) in the long run. I cleared $72k on the last house I sold.

Jamie askes: So here's a question for everyone: Given that the choice is typically metro-area data or nothing, how would you like me to label it?

Jamie it's less about labels as it is about discrimination (in the statistical sense).

As residential real estate choices and considerations most people make nearly always focus on taxes and schools and crime and most of that Big Three... having a nearly artificial (in the day to day practicality of living) border in the middle of the largest part of the immediate region only complicates the data provided regardless of which rubric is used.

A nearly artificial border, but far from artificial when the time comes to actually buy or sign a lease as daily life for most largely makes all that into more than just a subtle distinction.

So... the onus falls on you as the reporter (and self described wonk) to pick through the MSA type data collections and essentially undo most of their compiling and by that expose or distinguish just that portion of the material which the immediate area readership cares about.

(I suspect that the few Queen Anne's and most of the Howard and Harford and Carrol readers will understand.)

hth

Ah, MrRational, you're assuming that it's always possible to burrow into the numbers to get the more local versions. But often the metro area figure is all there is. I'm not using it to be lazy -- I'm using it because otherwise, there's nothing. (I know, it's frustrating.)

The monthly housing statistics from Metropolitan Regional Information Systems are a nice exception -- you can look at all the individual jurisdictions, plus ZIP codes if you so desire. Of course, as Pete from Highlandtown pointed out in a comment on another post, city home prices vary so much from neighborhood to neighborhood (and sometimes on the same block) that even a ZIP code can hide a lot of range.

That's why I believe in not expecting too much out of numbers -- they can rarely tell us everything we want to know. But they can tell us some pretty interesting things.

Rents are high in downtown Baltimore because there is little supply. Apartments are running at a 95% capactiy with no new Class A apartment buildings on the horizon for downtown. If the supply goes up rents will go down a bit.

Jamie: never said it was easy or even possible to do. ;)

The only alternative however (it would appear) is to endure the slings and arrows of outrageous hyperbole.

c'est la vie.

Craigslist: a frictionless market with nearly perfect information for those who don't need a fancy lobby. I check it periodically and my unofficial, unscientific, undocumented observation is that rents have been trending down for the past 3 years.

And regarding the Section 8 price floor, ever wonder how much this program drives up rents for everyone thereby perpetuating its own need? Pull the program, allow some homes to rent for $400-$500/mo, and then maybe your $7.50/hr Walmart employee can afford his own home without government assistance.

Hi, The Real Way! :-D

The nice thing about craigslist and other online rental sites is that they catch apartments that aren't Class A plus everything that isn't an apartment (a lot of single-family homes, townhouses and condos for rent). The downside from a statistical point of view is that those sites don't necessarily track the changes themselves, so you'd have to copy and paste a lot of raw data every few days and do it yourself to get something more official, scientific and documented.

Some of the sites have released stats, though, and they show rents increasing post-recession. Which does make some sense, even with the rough economy, because the homeownership share keeps dropping and not everyone is moving in with Mom and Dad.

I wouldn't be surprised, though, if rents in some neighborhoods have dropped or at least stayed steady thanks to homeowners who can't sell turning landlord.

I dont know much about Class A apartments.But if someone is trying to get the best "bang for thier buck", i would advise them to avoid apartments in Baltimore City. Since Baltimore rowhomes are fairly small, most people rent the whole house out. And even in south East Baltimore you can rent a decent 2-3 bedroom , 1,200-1,500 sq ft house for around $1500.

Its been my experience that Baltimore is one of the few places where houses rent cheaper then apartments.Especially since you dont have as many older people in places like Canton that will rent a back bedroom out. I still remember fondly paying $225 a month for a one bedroom apartment on Canton Square in the early 1990s to 2001. Not much hope in finding that kind of price nowdays

I would confirm that $1.50 per square foot is about right for Mt Vernon - an area I am very familiar with. Our apartments rent for about $1.20 per square foot, and we saw better tenant retention and increased interest from perspective tenants - this year. We would not be considered type A, based on above definition. While our apartments are nice on the inside and have a few extras (like washer and dryer), we would not be classified as A, because we are not in a newer building and do not provide common-space amenities. It does make sense that in this economy people do the math and opt to pay $300 less in monthly rent for a 1,000 square foot apartment and join the gym for $60-90/month. Fortunately we have 4 gyms and a yoga studio in Mt Vernon.