The competition is getting harder nowadays due to the rising number of renters in the country. Although many people believe it's because of growing number of millennials looking to find their new place, it's apparently not!
As it turns out, it's the 40-year-olds who are mostly renters, rather than those in their 20's. Those in their older years actually prefer renting. Forbes explains:
"While 20-somethings still make up the largest single cohort of renters, the 40-plus crowd now accounts for a majority of all renters, according to a biennial study from the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies [sic], underscoring the changing face of America's renters."
Furthermore, the increase in millennial renters over the last ten years is nothing compared to the rise in much older renters. Check out a photo of the graph here.
Based on the figures, renters under the age of 30 have increased by nearly 1 million in the last decade, as compared to the additional 3 million Gen X renters and another 4.3 million renters in the 50's and 60's age group over the same time period.
"Rentership rates among gen-Xers and baby boomers are also rising, changing the traditional profile of the renter population," cited the study authors.
It continued, "While the conventional image of renters is groups of young unrelated adults living together, these types of non-family households make up a relatively small share of all renters and their numbers have grown modestly in the past 10 years."
One of the main factors that led to the slow increase in millennial renters could be traced back to the 2008 financial crisis - when a significant number of young people opted to stay in their parents' homes.
This is not a simply a trend that's happening. Another "wave of younger millennials" will become renters as well, in the coming years.