67 Percent of Current Renters Not Likely to Move Says NAA

And we are inclined to believe them. Times are tough in the housing market and this really cool survey put out by NAA gives a lot of data points confirming a lot of info that we have been talking about here for some time now. Perusing Google News and The Earth Times we stumbled upon this press release and thought it pertinent and too important not to share.
The press release for the survey findings (linked to The Earth Times below) has some intriguing findings concerning our industry. Some that stood out are highlighted below:

*Renters not eager to take a chance on home ownership anytime soon: 69 percent of renters said they plan to stay renters for up to five more years. (This stat is simply amazing considering the amount of available housing currently on the market and the ownership mentality that is so prevalent in our culture. We think this will come down by default as more and more houses become cheaper and in some cases, may be even more cost effective as opposed to apartment living.)

*Renting seen as favorable to owning: 71 percent of adults feel that there are advantages to renting vs. owning in the current real estate market, 48 percent citing financial reasons (e.g. not being impacted by unpredictable housing values and mortgage rates) over more traditional reasons such as amenities packages (18 percent) or the flexibility of a short-term lease (32 percent). (This makes sense as people are simply taking advantage of favorable market conditions. This is where the industry has to continue to teach prospective renters about the beauty of renting.)

This survey has some solid stats and some encouraging numbers concerning our industry. This is yet another signpost for us to continue to be innovative and smart on how we approach our business. Yes, we are a business where real business decisions are needed to not only provide a quality product (apartment living) but at quality (not necessarily maximum) profit, maximized for the benefit of developer, owner, manager and renter.

Our main issue that we uncovered was this: renters aren't eager to stop renting but we also have to start getting the news out that multi-family housing is a real lifestyle choice and not just one to bank on when housing suffers. New ideas are still needed and we need to work together to make them happen!

New Survey Finds 69 Percent of Renters Plan to Continue Renting For As Long As Five More Years (The Earth Times)