Almost all us tenants do want to buy a home

Homeownership is at almost a 30-year low in the US, according to the latest figures, as more people rent than buy. The trend has been hailed as a broader shift in lifestyle by many, simply presuming that young people these days do not want to get their own rung on the housing ladder.

But young renters really do want to buy, according to striking new research. 94 per cent of current tenants aged 34 or younger want to own a home in the future, reveals a survey from the National Association of Realtors, with 84 per cent wanting to own and 77 per cent believing owning a home remains part of the American Dream.

The pent-up demand from those renters is "sizeable", says Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, with "a variety of economic and personal reasons" impacting their ability to buy.

While 1 in 5 (19 per cent) say that they prefer the flexibility of renting a home, more than half (53 per cent) of those not owning a home attributed this to their inability to afford a home.

"A combination of factors such as rising rents and home prices, limited supply, repaying student debt, and getting married and having children later in life has more to do with the currently underperforming share of first-time buyers than the idea that buying a home is not as desirable as it used to be," adds Yun.

Rising rents is a factor that can often be overlooked in the housing debate, but rents have risen steadily for the last six years in a row, according to a report by Axiometrics (published by the Wall Street Journal), fuelled by a shortage of apartments for middle-income renters, who, in turn, continue to push demand higher thanks to expensive costs involved in buying.

Rent increases are not about to slow down any time soon, notes a report from Reis Inc. Apartment rents rose 4.6 per cent in 2015, faster than at any point since the recession.

The average apartment rent is now almost $1,180, up from roughly $1,125 in 2014.

"The fourth quarter "wrapped up an incredible year for the apartment market, probably the strongest we’ve ever seen," says Jay Denton, senior vice president of analytics at Axiometrics.