Alright, so imagine this: suburbs are going wild. Renting’s like the new black, especially ‘cause buying a house? Yeah, not really happening for lots of folks. This data from Point2Homes, right? It says rentership shot up over 5% in a bunch of suburbs around big U.S. cities between 2018 and 2023. Crazy, huh?
So, get this: we’re talking places like Dallas, Houston, Miami, and up north in Boston and Philly. Interestingly, in spots like Dallas and a few others, suburbs are picking up renters even faster than the cities themselves. Like, in Dallas, it jumped 17.6% while the city only went up 7.9%. Betcha didn’t see that coming.
Back in 2018, home buying in Dallas County was tougher compared to some suburban areas like Frisco or McKinney. Fast forward a bit, now those suburban places? Harder to buy a home there than in the city. Housing issues, man… they’re everywhere.
Mortgage rates climbing up like they didn’t get the memo about chilling out post-pandemic. The 30-year fixed is just under 7% now. Yikes. So, rentals save the day, kind of. It’s like a lifeline for suburban life where buying’s out of reach.
Got this quote from N. Edward Coulson, talking about space and having a yard for your doggo or kids. Totally get it. Mark, some dude outside Chicago, rents because buying would cost him 30% more a month. He’s wondering if he should just pack up and move elsewhere.
Andrew from Lake Villa? Wants to buy the place he rents, but it’s a no-go at $340K. Probably would dive in at $200K though, no questions asked.
Anyway, Tara Raghuveer from Tenant Union Federation talks about people moving out of cities, making life inconvenient and disconnected. Then there are landlords, saying rent’s simpler — one payment, no maintenance headaches. George Ratiu from the National Apartment Association backs that up.
Developers are also mixing things up, building multifamily setups in the ‘burbs. Jay Parsons chats about “suburban downtowns” thanks to the rise in remote work. You live suburban but get city vibes, kind of. It’s a nice mash-up for young families.
Wrapping it up, Coulson doesn’t see suburb life losing charm. City living is still cool, especially if you work there, but suburbs are appealing more with remote work sticking around. Gonna be interesting seeing where all this lands.
And there you have it — my wandering thoughts on the suburban rent scene. Maybe it made sense, or maybe my brain took a wild ride. Who even knows.
