Most Affordable ’Hoods for Renters: Yup, They’re What You’d Think

Screen grab from Kwelia’s interactive rental heat map.

Here’s what we want to say to startup Kwelia: If loving you is wrong, we don’t wanna be right. The self-professed data geeks help real estate professionals by collecting and analyzing information about the rental market: what’s hot, what’s trending, what competitive pricing would look like.

That doesn’t necessarily sound like it would be to a consumer’s benefit. But Kwelia also provides info about Philadelphia rentals and free tools to regular folk. Take, for instance, the company’s interactive heat map of rental prices in Philadelphia for the month of May: It’s a really helpful look at what’s going on in the city in terms of affordability–as long as you understand the reasons behind the prices.

And Kwelia does a solid job on its blog analyzing what you’ll find on the map–or at least with asking the right questions. Regarding Germantown:

In otherwords, are a few upscale complexes responsible for a higher-than-normal median rent? A closer look at complexes like Rittenhouse Hill, or Delmar Morris, or Cloverly Park shows that median rents there are all well north of $1.50 per ft2.

Yes, the reason for Germantown’s median rent are those complexes, without question. The fact that Kwelia takes note of the realities on the ground, not just the bald numbers, makes the data parsing more interesting.

But just taking the data into account, where are the cheapest places to rent in Philly? All of the following neighborhoods had a median rent, in May, below $0.90/square foot:

Glenwood
Hunting Park
Northwood
Juniata Park
Paschall
Elmwood
Kingsessing
Brewerytown
Richmond
West Passyunk
Harrowgate
Upper Kensington
Grays Ferry
Olney
Ogontz
Tacony
Summerdale
Oxford Circle
Logan
Tioga
Wissinoming

• Philly’s Hottest Rental Neighborhoods in May [Kwelia Blog]
• 10 most expensive Philly neighborhoods for renters in May: Kwelia [Technically Philly]