Rental prices hit record high

When the housing market is hot, renting usually is a good alternative. And when housing market cools and buying is affordable, don't rent.

But that's generally speaking. What happens when the housing and rental markets are simultaneously boiling?

After holding steady for years, rent for a typical two-bedroom apartment in Anne Arundel County hit a record $1,309 per month in 2005, according to a year-end report by Delta Associates, a Virginia real estate research firm.

"We're in a different dynamics period," said Dr. Joseph A. Cater, economist at Market Economics. "The old adages, we are going to have to revise."

The...