The recovery from the ‘Great Recession’ has been anything but slow for apartment building investment. During the recession many of the prime renters (age 20 t0 34) were hit hard by unemployment and m0ved back in with their parents. Others ‘bundled up’ by moving in with their friends.
“Sometime between 2010 and 2011 the number of doubled-up households started to decrease. This reversal released a great deal of pent-up demand for apartments. A greater number of people sharing multi-bedroom apartment units, as well as a greater number of young adults living at home, were able to move out and rent their own units. Moreover, these young adults largely did not purchase homes.”
After being hit hard by the recession, younger workers have benefited more than others from the recovery in hiring. Since the bottom in late 2009/10, the prime age cohort for rental apartments (ages of 20 and 34) has a net gain of more than 1.5 million jobs. This has enabled many of these young workers to move into their own apartments.
But will it continue?
“The 2010 decennial census estimates that roughly 37 million people ages 20 to 34 live in the United States. Three out of every 10 of these live with their parents. According to Pew Research, 78 percent of these young adults are content living at home—but that means 22 percent are not. That equates to roughly 2.44 million people who would probably still like to move out. As long as the economy continues to create jobs for them, expect the release of pent up demand to continue.”
See the whole Apartment Finance Today article here: Multifamily Mojo Hat tip: Joseph Bernard Investment Real Estate.