On to a New Era of Rental Housing

The Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University released a report on rental housing this week, headlining the findings of the report with the conclusion that a decade of unprecedented growth in the rental housing market "may be coming to an end."

"Fewer new renter households are being formed, rental vacancy rates have risen, and rent increases have slowed," according to the website announcing the report. "At the same time, renter demographics are changing and nearly 21 million households continue to pay more than 30 percent of their income for rent."

The news of the new study got picked up Diana Olick at CNBC, who focuses on the study's findings about renters in the country becoming older and wealthier. "The number of higher-income rental households has doubled in the last decade," writes Olick, "and that trend will likely increase in the coming years as more baby boomers downsize."

Kriston Capps also shared news of the new report, noting that the "explosion of renters" since the foreclosure crisis has finally begun to fade. According to Capps, however, "even though the expansion of the renter class may be slowing, the changes in rental housing, and in the people who choose to rent, are here for good."

Announcements from the launch event and commentary on the findings of the report are also being catalogued on Twitter at #harvardhousingreport.