Growing Number of Americans Seek Single-family Home Rentals
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Build-to-rent communities have reached an all-time high, with about 60% located in suburbs, according to a new report.
As a growing number of renters look for housing that offers more space and privacy, communities of single-family houses built to rent are expanding nationwide, according to a report by RentCafe.
In 2021, single-family rental home construction reached an all-time high of 6,740 new built-to-rent homes completed. And the trend is increasing rapidly. In fact, twice as many homes are under construction, with about 14,000 set to open their doors beginning this year, the report says.
There are about 90,000 existing single-family homes in nearly 720 communities designed specifically for renting. These homes include single-family detached houses, townhomes, duplexes and quadruplexes that come with either a backyard or garage or sometimes both, according to the report.
However, because they need large lots of land to build on, rental home communities are dominant in lower-density areas, with about 60% located in suburbs.
The coronavirus has impacted this trend, Christopher Michael, architect and founder of archisoup, an online learning platform for architecture students, told RentCafe. “Many are now moving out of the cities and apartment living to seek out more space in rural and suburban locations.”
Renting is more favorable for millennials than buying a home. In fact, the number of higher-income millennials renting instead of buying a home is on the rise. The share of applications for apartments from young people who earn more than $50,000 is at its highest level in five years at 39%, according to another report by RentCafe.
Top Built-to-Rent Communities
Increased housing demand has led to increasingly larger communities, resulting in mega projects that resemble neighborhoods.
Here are the top 10 largest build-to-rent communities of single-family rentals:
- Buffalo Highlands and Buffalo Highland in Las Vegas
- Homecoming at the Preserve in Chino, California
- Rosemont Brookhaven in Bellport, New York
- Antelope Ridge in Box Elder, South Dakota
- Homecoming at Eastvale in Eastvale, California
- Castlewood/Castle Gardens in Atwater, California
- Treviso Gardens in Katy, Texas
- Arbors at Antelope in Antelope, California
- 83 West Townhomes in West Bloomfield, Michigan
The study is based on data related to built-to-rent communities containing at least 50 single-family rental units. The data includes only properties defined as single-family homes for rent that are in built-to-rent professionally managed communities.
For more information from the RentCafe report click here.
Andre Claudio is an assistant editor at Route Fifty.
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