Articles by

Nadia Balint

Nadia Balint is a senior creative writer for RENTCafé. She covers news and trends in residential and commercial real estate and their impact on our everyday life, including rental housing, for-sale housing, real estate development, homeownership, market reports, insurance, landlord-tenant laws, personal finance, urban development, economy, sustainability, and social issues. Nadia holds a B.S. in Business Management from Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago. You can connect with Nadia via email.

Nadia’s work and expertise have been quoted by major national and local media outlets, including CNN, CNBC, CBS News, Curbed, The NY Post, The Chicago Tribune, The Denver Post as well as industry publications, such as GlobeSt, Bisnow, Inman News, Multifamily Executive, and The Commercial Real Estate Show. Nadia also wrote for Multi-Housing News, Commercial Property Executive, HubSpot, and more. Prior to entering the real estate industry, Nadia worked in the legal field, where she gained over 10 years of experience in business, corporate, and real estate law.

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RentCafe Highrise Apartments for Rent

High-Rise vs. Low-Rise Apartments: Pros and Cons

You’re in the market for a new apartment, but you’re having trouble deciding on the type of place to rent. Besides price, location, and amenities,…

2021 rental season

The Great Return: Renters Jumpstart Large Cities with Surge in Applications in 2021

The 2021 rental season kicked off twice as strong as usual, with Gen Z and high-earning Millennials being the most active apartment hunters. In particular,…

why you need renters insurance

Five Reasons Why You Need Renters Insurance Right Now

Several mistaken assumptions prevent most renters from purchasing renters insurance. They assume their landlord’s insurance already covers their rental apartment, they think it’s expensive, or…

alexa_featured_890x400

RentCafe Tech: How to Manage Your Apartment with Zero Face-to-Face Interaction

Who would have thought that such a harmless-sounding term as “social distancing” could pack such a punch into our daily lives? We can’t go out…

monthly-report-january-2019-featured-image

The National Average Rent Stagnated in January – Cities in America’s Sun Belt Experienced the Fastest Growth

Key takeaways: The national average rent reached $1,420 in January 2019, a year-over-year increase of 3.3% ($45), according to data from Yardi Matrix. Among the…

Average Apartment Size

As Apartments Are Shrinking, Seattle Tops New York with the Smallest Rentals in the U.S.

Highlights: The average size of new apartments in the U.S. in 2018 is 941 square feet, 5 percent smaller than ten years ago, with studio…

best personal finance blogs

10+ Most Popular Finance Blogs You’ll Want to Follow Right Now

Whether you’re looking for a way to live frugally, save for a down payment on a home, make your first million dollars, or plan for…

featured_migration_890x400-002

Goodbye LA, Hello Phoenix: Affordable Housing Makes Second-Tier Metros Top Choices for Moving

With the middle-class squeezed by the rising cost of living, particularly housing costs, many average-earners find it an onerous endeavor to create a decent life…

luxury rental properties

8 Out of 10 New Apartment Buildings Were High-End in 2017, Trend Continues in 2018

There is no better visual depiction of urban development than seeing an old parking lot replaced by an edgy tower apartment building. If just a…

millennial population zip codes

Top Trending Zip Codes for the Millennial Population Are Big City Urban Cores

Are millennials today more likely to live in and near downtowns or withdraw to outer neighborhoods? Population dynamics are always shifting in the nation’s biggest…

Rentcafe Monthly August 2018 Report

August Rents Rose at the Fastest Pace in 18 Months, as Apartment Construction Slows

Key takeaways: The national average rent reached an all-time high of $1,412 in August 2018, up by 3.1 percent ($42) year over year, and by…

monthly-report-july-2018_featured-image

Seasonal Demand Pushes Up Apartment Rents in July in 88 Percent of Cities

Key takeaways: The national average rent reached an all-time high of $1,409 in July 2018, up by 2.8 percent ($39) year over year, and by…

homeowners vs renters

The Dream on Hold: 3.6 Million Fewer Families with Kids Own a Home Compared to 10 Years Prior

The big fallout during the housing crisis followed by air-tight lending rules, an alarming shortage of entry-level homes, and skyrocketing home prices are the main…

ideal location

Survey: Cost Barrier Keeps Over 80 Percent of Renters Away from Their Ideal Location, Their Job

Job growth in and near downtown areas is seeing peak levels, with major employers like McDonald’s in Chicago and GE in Boston relocating their headquarters from the…

monthly-report-featured-image-may

National Rents See Slowest Season Start in Years, but Most Renter Mega-Hubs Maintain Upward Trend

Key takeaways: The national average rent was $1,381 in May 2018, having increased by 2 percent year over year, and by 0.3 percent ($4) month…

high-end apartments

Looking to Upgrade? Here’s How Much It Costs to Rent a High-End Apartment Around the Country

It seems that all the nice neighborhoods are stacked up with high-end apartment buildings on every block. They look expensive, with their shimmering pools, 24-hour fitness…

april-report-featured-image_890x400

Rental Season Debuts with Increases in Most Large Cities, National Y-o-Y Growth Follows the Trend of the Past 16 Months

Key takeaways: The national average rent was $1,377 in April 2018, having increased by 2.4 percent year over year, and by 0.3 percent ($4) month…

single-family rentals

Single-Family Rentals Increased Faster than Apartments in 22 of 30 Big Cities, Led by Phoenix

The U.S. housing market has gone through nothing short of a transformation in the last decade. The number of people renting their abode has increased…

featured-image_march-2018

National Apartment Rents Hit a 14-Month Growth Plateau in March Amid Small City Boom

Key takeaways: The national average rent was $1,371 in March 2018, 2.5 percent higher than this time last year, and up 0.3 percent ($4) month…

monthly-report-featured_february

February Rents Increased the Most in Small Markets; Colorado Among the Most Active

Key takeaways: The national average rent was $1,364 in February 2018, 2.7 percent higher than this time last year, and up 0.01 percent ($1) month…

vintage-newspaper-ads-featured

Vintage Rental Ads – Horse Parking Included

“The luxury of today is the necessity of tomorrow. Every advance first comes into being as the luxury of a few rich people, only to…

january-2018_featured-image

Same Trend, Different Year: January Brings Further Rent Increases, Fueled by Demand

Key takeaways: The national average rent was $1,361 in January 2018, 2.8 percent higher than this time last year, and flat month over month, according…

atlanta_featured-image-890x400

Atlanta Metro Area 2017 Rent Retrospect

The average rent in Atlanta at the end of December 2017 was $1,340/month, 2.4% more than exactly one year prior. In the metro area overall,…

San Francisco Bay Area 2017 Rent Retrospect

In 2017, the San Francisco Bay Area remained one of the top most expensive metro areas in the country for renters. The average rent in the Bay…

RentCafe 2017 Apartment Market Report Year End

2017 Year End Rent Report – Las Vegas Was 2017’s Hottest Large Rental Market

Report highlights: The national average apartment rent in 2017 increased by 2.5% y-o-y, reached $1,359/month at the end of 2017, according to Yardi Matrix Rent…

monthly-report_november_2017_featured_890x400

Apartment Rents Stabilize in November Around the Country, While Mid-Sized Markets Remain Active

Key takeaways: Rents were consistent for the month, coming in at $1,358 – just 2.5 percent higher than this time last year, according to data from…

monthly-report_oct_featured-890x400

October Rents Quiet Down in One-Fifth of U.S. Cities in Anticipation of the Off-Season

Key takeaways: National rents are feeling the effects of the off-season, slightly decreasing to $1,358 in October, and posting an annual growth of just 2.3% — according…

Baby boomer renters suburban apartments for rent RentCafe

The Biggest Game Changers in Renting Are Older, Highly-Educated Renters, and 2.5 Million Stronger

Have you noticed how different renting is today from one or two decades ago? I think most of us would agree that renters were usually…

monthly_rent_report_september_2017

National Rents on Pause for the Entire Peak Rental Season, Including Priciest Cities; Mid-Sized Cities Continue Rally

Key takeaways: The national average rent was $1,354 in September, remaining virtually flat for the 4th month in a row, and showing the slowest annual growth…

Approved Applicants

Rental Application Approvals Are Up – Active Millennial Hubs Seattle, Portland Have the Highest Approval Rates

We live in a record-setting real estate world right now. Almost 37% of people in the U.S. are renting their home, according to the U.S….