Are rents going down anywhere?! (section 8, apartments, renters)

[natalie456]

I have been longing to move forever, and researching rentals for years. The areas I am interested in are in the western part of the country. I cannot find anything in areas of 20,000 pop. and over. Am not looking at deserts. I have heard the old saw that homeowners are making their renters pay the high cost of their mortgages, ect., but how can they if the renters can't afford it? We are supposed to be in a bad recession, where is the money coming from to afford these high rents?! And the high rents are everywhere, even in unlikely small towns with little to offer. Of course, this is esp. true of Ca, where I am from, had to leave, long to return.
Does anyone know of any places where rents are going down? I am speaking of places where crime rates are not above 6, preferably 5 or below, and not in the middle of a desert.
Thanks,
Natalie

[atlantagreg30127]

Generally speaking, the economy is causing a large number of people to give up home ownership and switch to renting until they get back on their feet. As a result, in most markets there is not the usual surplus of apartments that there has been in the past. Less surplus = higher rents. In the case of rental homes, yep, owners are trying to not lose money on their mortgages and trying to charge rents that cover it (many times unsuccessfully)...and many times they sign up for section 8 or other Federal programs that may guarantee they'll get rent from the tenants, etc.

It's an issue that unfortunately may not be ending anytime in the very near future. But keep looking, there are always exceptions to the rule. The trick is to find that exceptional property before the other people looking for it do.