There’s been plenty of talk in the news lately about the rebounding housing market, leading many in the apartment industry to wonder how they’ll be affected. The good news is that experts conclude they won’t be affected much. Here’s what those in the know, know:
Few people are leaving their apartments to make a home purchase
A Chicago-based research company that tracks people’s reasons for leaving an apartment says that few people leave in order to purchase a home. Further backing up survey data is the fact that the percentage of home purchases made by first-time home buyers has stagnated since the expiration of the Home Buyer Tax Credit.
We have a long way to go
Before people in the rental industry despair over the double-digit increases in home sales we’ve been seeing lately, it is a good idea for them to remember just how low the housing market sunk. Given the housing market’s low at the peak of the financial crisis, achieving double-digit increases doesn’t require too much. People are still underwater in their homes and there is still a high number of foreclosures. Rentals are still important.
Urban living is attractive
Cities used to be hotbeds of crime, and people fled them for the safety of the suburbs. Today, with high gas prices, lowering crime rates in cities, and the cultural attractions of urban centers, people are leaving the suburbs to move back to the cities. Often, because of high property values in urban centers, people who want to live in them have no choice but to rent.
The housing market has come a long way in just a few short years, and this article is in no way meant to discredit its improvements. Rather, this is to show that despite its improvements, multi-family homes and apartment complexes intended for rent still have a major role to play in people’s lives.
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