U.S. renters paid $441 billion for apartments and houses this year, a $20.6 billion increase, as fewer Americans owned their homes and landlords with tight inventories raised leasing charges, Zillow Inc. said Tuesday.
The number of rental households grew by 2 percent, or 770,000, nationally during 2014, according to the Seattle-based real estate information service. In the New York metropolitan area, the largest U.S. housing market, the number of rental residences expanded by 63,000 to 3.4 million, with tenants spending a total of $50 billion for shelter.
