Seattle rents increasing faster than in any other US city

SEATTLE — Rents in the Seattle area are rising faster than in any other big city in the country for the first time in this decade.

The Seattle Times reports (http://goo.gl/bRmeZX ), according to data from Zillow, the typical monthly rent in the Seattle metro area surpassed $2,000 for the first time this spring and is up 9.7 percent in the past year.

That's growth at nearly four times the national average.

Zillow data says that's more than second-place Portland which is up 9 percent and third-place San Francisco, up 7.4 percent.

Rents are climbing so fast that June's 1.1 percent monthly price gain in the Seattle area surpassed the growth that Chicago and Washington, D.C., have seen in an entire year.

However, most big cities have seen rent increases that exceed the historical average.

Associated Press