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Renter Nation? Give me a break

E-mail | Print | Comments () Posted by Scott Van Voorhis June 1, 2011 10:00 AM

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Skeptical yet about all the media hype on how apartment living is the wave of the future?

If you're not, then you should be. This is a classic case of a short-term shift being trumpeted as a long-term cultural trend.

There's no debate the number of renters across the country has risen sharply at a time when foreclosures and falling home prices has tarnished the idea of homeownership.

In fact, the number of renters has grown by 692,000 each year since 2006, when home prices started falling, USA Today reports.

Yet there are some big problems with the now fashionable notion that renting is destined to become the new owning.

Reasons to be wary of the Renter Nation hype include:

The rush into rentals is poised to push up rents in markets across the country, including Boston. One big factor in the rise of interest in apartment living was that it simply made more financial sense given sky-high home prices. But as rents rise and home prices continue to fall, that equation is already starting to shift.
Much has been written about the Millennials and their love of renting. But come on, who in their twenties is thinking of buying a condo, let alone a house? I didn't buy a house until I was 35 and married, with plans to start a family. It didn't occur to me that buying would have been an option earlier - frankly I was just trying to get on my feet professionally and financially.
The apartment market lacks the variety and choice needed to keep upwardly mobile renters for more than passing periods in their lives. There is a surge in new apartment projects across Greater Boston, from Back Bay out to the suburbs. And most of these new rental complexes feature cookie cutter designs, the biggest difference being their location. Dullness is a strike. More critically, apartment sizes are often capped at two bedrooms by many towns and cities eager to keep out additional schoolchildren. If you want children, you are faced with having to buy a house.