Rent rates to continue rising

College students are known for their constant money shortage and that problem may become more pronounced.

Renters have seen and may continue to see an increase in monthly rent.

IU junior Laurelle Downer has lived at the Varsity Villas for two years. She said Varsity Properties are not the best quality, but cheap prices kept her and other residents there for so long.

Downer said although the Villa’s apartments increased monthly rents by $45 in the past two years, Downer and her roommates have not had to pay the difference because they chose to re-sign their lease.

But in Indianapolis rent has increased since 2009 due to the housing market’s downturn, strict mortgage standards and home-buyer’s federal tax expiration.

IU Residential Programs and Services finished building apartments on Union Street in August, while a new complex on College Avenue called Nine North Apartments is currently being built.

Doug Horn, a general partner at Horn Properties, which owns and operates several buildings and single houses near campus, said in an e-mail the “market niche” has not been negatively affected by the national downturn in real estate values.
 
“Over the past five years or so ... we and many of our peers have seen a fairly consistent ratio of revenue to expenses,” Horn said. “Still, modest rent increases have been necessary to maintain that ratio.”

The commercial side of the rental market has not been very profitable. John West, a real estate agent from F.C. Tucker, said businesses are more apt to be negotiable because of the current economic state.

“They (commercial rents) have either stayed the same or have gotten worse,” he said.