Rentership Nation

According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, rental housing is currently the one bright spot in a dismal housing landscape. The rental property values—for apartment buildings in particular—are skyrocketing, as rental vacancy rates drop and rent prices climb sharply. WSJ states that this sudden demand for rentals is driven largely by “millions of people who are victims of foreclosure or are unwilling or unable to buy their own homes.”

Even some of the cities hardest hit by the housing crisis and subsequent economic downturn are experiencing increased demand for rentals and corresponding spikes in rent prices. In fact, “Of the 82 major markets that Reis tracks, only Las Vegas [has seen] rents decline” year over year.

Industry experts predict that the national home-ownership rate could easily fall from the current 66.4% to 60% in the near future, with “Each 1% decline in the home-ownership rate [representing] the movement of one million households to rentals.”

Category: Rental Market News