Duplex Tenant Quality Looking Up

I’m sure it bothered you. (Sarcasm intended.)

Well, now you can say you have. CoreLogic’s recently released Renter Application Risk Report indicates the quality of potential renters has improved in the last year.

Apparently the folks at CoreLogic study these things. In the first quarter of the year, the index rose nationally to 104, up two from last year. They believe a value above 100 indicates improved credit quality among tenant applicants, which suggests there may be less risk of them defaulting on their rent.

Of course, not all parts of the country are equal. Their study found the tenants with the highest index scores, at 111, are in the Northeastern part of the country. And the worst? In the Midwest and South, where scores were 100 and 101.

The report also found that renter traffic has decreased in all property types, in spite of income gains of up to 1 percent made by tenants.

Here’s an interesting statistic. In properties that rent for more than $750, the rent-to-income ratios were as much as 22.9 percent. In other words, tenants are using just less than one-fourth of their monthly income for their rent payment.

This ratio may indicate tenants are stretching their budgets for nicer places to live.