As the homeownership rate has dropped from the peak in 2004 at almost 70 percent to 63.7 percent today –the lowest in 25 years — the percentage of renters has risen to the highest level in that same quarter of a century.
While many people are more than pleased to escape the maintenance and other requirements of homeownership when they transverse to being renters, others miss the attributes of owning their own home.
From an apartment investor, manager and developer perspective, it helps to know the expectations, needs and satisfaction levels of renters in facilitating decisions for optimum investment and proactive management. To help answer these questions, Apartment List completed a survey of more than 18,000 renters in their inaugural Apartment List Renter Survey spanning 100 cities and most states. Their focus included:
- Overall satisfaction with the city or neighborhood
- Future plans for homeownership
- Local economy trajectory and track
- State and local taxes
- Quality of local schools
- Safety and crime
- Probability to recommend city or neighborhood to friends or family
- Recreational access to parks, community activities and nightlife
- Commuter time
What were the findings by the Apartment List? What were the top and bottom markets based on renter’s satisfaction?
Following are the top and bottom 10 lists among the 100 markets studied by ApartmentList.com.
The findings were very consistent:
- The leading indicator of city satisfaction was confidence in the local economy – remember my line: Jobs are Everything! Cities that scored A- and above in confidence in the local economy were almost five times more likely to score an A- or above on city satisfaction when compared to those scoring a B+ or below
- The second leading indicator of city satisfaction was linked to safety and low crime rates. Just one-half of renters (53 percent) were satisfied or very satisfied in safety and crime
- State and local taxes and commute time were highly associated with lower city satisfaction levels
- All five bottom rated states and cities were located on the Eastern seaboard and each received an F Rating on crime and safety satisfaction
To read a summary of the survey by apartmentList.com and to find information in how to obtain the entire survey results click https://www.apartmentlist.com/survey
To see another perspective on the study by MultiFamily Executive http://www.multifamilyexecutive.com/business-finance/top-and-bottom-10-metros-for-renter-satisfaction_o
Perhaps the most telling finding was that, while 60 percent of renters in the survey plan to purchase a home in the future, 74 percent of Millennials indicated they will be in the homeowner’s market. That is very strong news for future housing sales.
As said in the Wizard of Oz, “There’s no place like home.”
Ted