In the latest Freddie Mac Renter Survey out this week renter’s preferences for renting have grown since a year ago. Boomers who would never own a home jumped from just under a quarter to almost a third of respondents. Meanwhile over half Millennials think renting is a good choice, up 10% from last year and the number of them working towards owning a home fell by almost half. The number of Millennials who would never own a home also nearly doubled to 11%.
Interestingly more suburban renters wouldn’t own a home than either urban or rural renters:
Note too that almost half of urban renters can’t afford to buy but would like to at some point in the future. The trend is not their friend as affordability is moving further and further away in the thriving tech driven cities where the job growth is.
But affordability is getting tougher on the rent side as well. More than a third of renters are paying more than a third of their income for rent and that includes 45% of Millennials:
My takeaway: More renters are going to stay renters longer than many thought… but unless wages begin to pick up soon particularly among Millennials, rents in many markets will grow more slowly than in the recent past. See the whole report here for all the details.
