Millennials Prefer Renting: Demand for Multi-Family Options Grows

"Demand for rental apartments in and near cities across America is soaring, just when most thought it wouldn’t be," according to an article by Diana Olick. "The expectation was that rental demand would fall as millennials aged into their home buying years."

"Apartment demand in the second quarter of 2019 spiked 11% from a year ago. That, in turn, pushed rents up an average 3% nationally to $1,390 per month, according to RealPage, a real estate software and analytics company," writes Olick.

The article also cites the results of a recent survey by Freddie Mac, which finds an overwhelming preference for renting as the more affordable option than owning a home. In that survey 82 percent of MIllennials said renting is more affordable than buying.

The narrative that Millennials are still driving demand for multi-family housing is a more nuanced take than the one that might the rounds at the beginning of July, which said that the largest demographic cohort in the country were fleeing cities for the suburbs in search of cheaper homes. Articles in the Wall Street Journal [paywall] and Fox Business made that case.

For more evidence of the preference of many Millennials for more urban living arrangements, see also the Foot Traffic Ahead report, released in June. Even the Wall Street Journal was singing a different tune [paywall] in March, when the story was about houses being too large for the market.