According to new report, rent on the rise nationwide

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – If you live in an apartment, chances are the next time you sign a lease, you'll be paying more in rent according to a new survey.

The report by Reis Incorporated says the average U.S. monthly rent is projected to rise about 3 percent to an average of more than $1,100.

Donald and Juanita Gore have been married for more than 40 years, and have spent most of that time in the same home. "If we find something we like we stay." 

But now that they're retired, they're looking for a new adventure and a new apartment.  However they're finding it hard to find the space they want at the price they want.

They're looking at the Brooklyn in Riverside, just the latest apartment community they've toured recently. One thing the Gore's are noticing is prices seem to be getting higher and higher.

"If you're working and you're making money and you get a raise, you don't really have a raise, because it's going to your rent, because they go up.  Every year they go up," Juanita Gore said.

According to Reis Incorporated, a company specializing in tracking national rental prices, the average rent in the United States has gone up 14 percent to $1,124 since 2010, four percentage points faster than inflation, and more than double the rise in U.S. home prices in the same period.

In 2015, rents are projected to rise another 3.3 percent to an average of $1,161.

The study said the reason for the increase is demand. There are more and more people apartment hunting across the country and in Jacksonville.

Jeff Lendvoi, of First Coast Rental Management, said there are several factors pushing demand.

"Young people moving out of their parents' houses, waiting to make a home purchase and using an apartment as a stepping stone," he said.

When it comes to Jacksonville, Lendvoi says that areas that are close to water, nightlife and shopping demand higher rents overall, but they are going up.

He said that there is another fact at work here though as well.

"With Jacksonville, there is a large transient population as well military bases, and people just don't want to be locked into a certain place for as long as it is when you buy a home," Lendvoi said.

Even with new construction, prices are still going to go up. That's because the study said most new construction is aimed at affluent tenants and has higher rents.

News4Jax found that rent for one bedroom apartments at 220 Riverside start at around $1,100. New, upgraded apartments at the Cabana Club on Baymeadows will be around $1,155 and a new complex on Atlantic and Kernan is $900 a month.

For the Gores, it's just about finding an apartment worth leaving their longtime home for.

"Our place still looks good. It is an older apartment, but it's a larger apartment compared to the brand new ones, which are a lot smaller than what we have now, for more money," Donald Gore said.