More Americans are becoming 'house poor' due to high housing costs

An annual Harvard report on housing released says half of all renters spend more than 30% of their income on housing.

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We were renting a 3 bedroom apartment for $1,800 a month. After working from home a bunch, I had banked $30,000 in cash and put down 7.7% on a $390,000 house.

Our mortgage went up $200 a month over rent, so $2,000 a month. 3.25% fixed, 30 years.

Our old apartment? 20 months later? $2,300 a month.
- That $2,000 a month can also raise if you've included property taxes and insurance in the payment. If you're not including property taxes and insurance then you're not really doing a full comparison.
  
  Our property tax actually went down $12 from year 1 to year 2. LOL.
It's a wild slope.
This doesn't bode well for a 2008 part 2... Home owners will be forced to rent, driving prices up even further...

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