Baby boomers are those sixty somethings that have limited cash to splurge while the Millenials are those born after 1980 earning their keep and searching for a home. According to a report from Bloomberg.com, these two age groups are now competing for homes available in the US rental market.
According to recent statistics from the Urban Institute in Washington, the population of individuals leasing their homes aged 65 and above would be at 12.2 million by 2030. This is double the numbers posted in 2010. On the other end of the spectrum, the millennial generation has steadily been the main consumers of the urban rental market. With baby boomers now re-entering the rental market, many project that rents would increase but would also be the impetus for developers to build more.
While studies have been done on the subject, there are downsides that have been identified, according to a report from gulfnews.com. Senior citizens with fixed incomes would choose to rent increasing demand. With their return, rent prices would certainly increase. Another market would also increase pressure on the rental market, those from Generation X, born between 1965 and 1980 who lost their homes during the recent housing crisis.
This was echoed by the statements of the Urban Institute's Housing Finance Policy Center Director Laurie Goodman, who said, "It's not unreasonable to think that some seniors are going to get hurt disproportionately. There's going to be just a huge surge in the demand for rental housing, and there's not enough."
The full body of the think tank's observations is contained in a report entitled "Headship and Homeownership: What Does the Future Hold." In the paper, according to a report from nreionline.com, there is a warning of a rental surge to come, saying "Over the next 15 years, new renters will outnumber new homeowners - causing a sustained surge of rental housing demand that will significantly affect Millennials, seniors and minorities and expose important gaps in our current housing policies."