VOA慢速英语2019 美国富人选择租房而不买房

Wealthy Americans Renting Homes Instead of Buying

A study by the apartment search website RentCafe finds that more wealthy Americans are choosing to rent living spaces instead of buying them.

公寓查找网站Rentcate的一项研究发现，更多美国富人选择租房而不是买房。

The study’s writer, Alexandra Ciuntu, collected information from the U.S. Census¹ Bureau². She found that the number of U.S. households earning at least $150,000 a year that chose to rent increased 175 percent between 2007 and 2017.

该研究的作者亚历山德拉·席翁图(Alexandra Ciuntu)从美国人口普查局收集信息。她发现，2007年到2017年期间，年收入不低于15万美元的美国家庭选择租房的比例提高了175%。

This new kind of renter goes against the idea that Americans rent mostly because they do not have enough money to buy a home.

这种新类型的租房群体推翻了美国人更多选择租房是因为买不起房的想法。

Ciuntu told VOA by email, "Lifestyle plays an important part in their decision to rent."

席翁图通过电子邮件对美国之音表示：“生活型态在他们的租房决策中扮演了重要角色。”

Business and technology centers like San Francisco, California³, and Seattle, Washington⁴, have the highest numbers of wealthy renters.

加州旧金山市以及华盛顿州西雅图市等商业和科技枢纽富人租房的人数最多。

In San Francisco, the number of renters grew from 21,000 in 2007 to 71,400 in 2017. That is an increase of 240 percent. The number of wealthy buyers increased by 56 percent -- from 40,100 in 2007 to 62,400 in 2017.

在旧金山，租房人数从2007年的2.1万上升到了2017年的7.14万，增长了240%。富人买房的人数从2007年的4.01万上升到了2017年的6.24万，增长了56%。

Ciuntu says that, with the rise in housing⁵ prices, it seems like a better decision to rent than to buy.

席翁图表示，随着房价的上涨，租房似乎比买房更好。

She added⁶, “In San Francisco, for example, $200,000 buys you just 260 square feet [24 square meters]. It's understandable why top earners give renting a serious try before deciding whether to invest⁷ in a property⁸ or not."

她补充道：“以旧金山为例，20万美元只能买到260平方尺（24平米）的面积。这也说明了为何高收入群体在决定是否投资房产时会认真考虑租房。”

In San Francisco and New York City, wealthy renters outnumber wealthy buyers. There are more high-earning renters — about 250,000 — in New York City than anywhere else in the country.

在旧金山和纽约，富人租房的人数超过了买房的人数。纽约高收入租房者大约有25万人，超过了全国其它任何地方。

But Ciuntu notes that the interest in renting does not mean wealthy Americans are rejecting homeownership. Between 2007 and 2017, Seattle gained 13,400 more wealthy home owners than it did high-income renters. Cities like Chicago and Denver also saw thousands more wealthy homeowners move in than wealthy renters during that 10-year period.

但是席翁图指出，对租房感兴趣并不代表美国富人不愿意买房。在2007年到2017年期间，西雅图高收入群体买房者比租房者多出了1.34万人。在这10年期间，芝加哥和丹佛之类的城市买房的富人也比租房的富人多出数千人。

I’m Jonathan Evans.

Words in This Story

lifestyle – n. a particular way of living; the way a person lives or a group of people live

household – n. the people in a family or other group that are living together in one house

1 census   

n.(官方的)人口调查，人口普查

参考例句：

• A census of population is taken every ten years.人口普查每10年进行一次。
• The census is taken one time every four years in our country.我国每四年一次人口普查。

2 bureau   

n.提供或收集消息的机构；局，司，处；署

参考例句：

• The weather bureau makes daily reports on weather conditions.气象局每天报告天气状况。
• The Tourist Bureau arranged everything for our journey to Rome.旅游局已为我们去罗马旅行准备了一切。

3 California   

n.加利福尼亚(美国)

参考例句：

• He was elected governor of the state of California.他当选为加州州长。
• We were driving on a California freeway.我们正沿着加利福尼亚的一条快车道驾车行驶。

4 Washington   

n.华盛顿特区(是美国首都)

参考例句：

• His birthplace is Washington,but he lives in San Francisco.他出生于华盛顿，但住在旧金山。
• They, together with my father,have gone to Washington.他们和我父亲一起去华盛顿了。

5 housing   

n.房屋，住宅；住房建筑；外壳，外罩

参考例句：

• Do you think our housing sales will turn around during this year?你认为今年我们的住宅销路会好转吗？
• The housing sales have been turning down since the summer.入夏以来，房屋的销售量日趋减少。

6 added   

adj.更多的，附加的，额外的

参考例句：

• They have added a new scene at the beginning.在开头他们又增加了一场戏。
• The pop music added to our enjoyment of the film.片中的流行音乐使我们对这部电影更加喜爱。

7 invest   

v.投资；投入(时间等)；授予，赋予

参考例句：

• I have decided to invest in a new car.我已经决定买一辆新汽车。
• The best time to invest is now.现在是投资的最佳时机。

8 property   

n.财产，所有物，所有权，性质，特性，（小）道具

参考例句：

• He has made over his property to a hospital.他已将财产转交给了一家医院。
• Oil has the property of floating on water.油有浮在水上的特性。