Income growth in the US

[Marcus Auerbach]

The two main threats to my business as an investor and as an agent are raising interest rates and stagnant income. I have seen rents go up quite a bit in the last 8 years in Milwaukee, at least 30% on average (I just found my cash flow calculation of my very first investment property and had a good chuckle about myself.  Rents went from $550 to $800 for a 2 BR apartment in 9 years. The 30 year fixed rate mortgage did not change of course, so beautiful things have happened to the cash flow). Interest rates have come down actually, but at the same time income did not go up much. I wanted to see how much it changed over the years and found this. Note this is inflation adjusted, so it means that the middle quintile (red) can actually buy a little bit more for their money today as in 2010, but the same as in 2000. We are finally seeing a little bit of an up tick at the end, but not to the extend that rents have grown. I am rooting for moderate wage growth!