AUSTIN, Texas — Sydney Wizner used to pay about $900 for her rent in East Austin until it was time for her to resign her lease.
“They told me that my rent was going to be going up to $1,434, which is like at least a 45% increase,” said Wizner.
For her, that meant she had to find a new place to live.
“I was very stressed. Things are getting snatched up so fast. If it’s an affordable place, it’s not going to be on the market for long,” she said.
According to rental agency Zumper, rent for a one-bedroom apartment has increased in Austin by 34% since last year. The median rent is just over $1,500. Zumper Senior Market Analyst Jeff Andrews said the area has been seeing the cost of housing increase even more since the start of the pandemic.
“And then when we got into the pandemic, a lot of people decided all at once that they needed to move and so this supply shortage was exacerbated by this sudden rush of demand,” Andrews said.
Wizner said she eventually found a new place to call home but said it was not easy.
“I eventually had to make a few sacrifices here and there with budgets or personal expenses, but I was able to find someplace in my budget, thankfully,” she said.
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