Nearly Half of Rental Units in Properties with Four or Fewer Units

Nearly 46 percent of U.S. rental housing units are in properties with one to four units, the Rental Housing Finance Survey from HUD and the U.S. Census Bureau reported.

For these small rental properties, 70 percent (15.9 million) are owned by individual investors and more than one-third (8.1 million) have a mortgage or similar debt, the report said.

Solomon Greene, HUD Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research, noted the survey examines the financial, managerial and physical characteristics of the 49.5 million rental properties nationwide. The agencies release the report every three years.

Some highlights:

Rental Property Configuration

•             More than 85 percent of rental properties contain only one rental unit.

•             Nearly one-third of rental units are in properties with one rental unit and another one-third of rental units are in properties with 150 or more rental units.

Ownership and Management

•             Nearly 70 percent of rental properties, representing 38 percent of all rental units, are owned by individual investors and 15 percent of rental properties with 40 percent of units are owned by limited liability corporations or partnerships. For properties with 150 or more units, 67 percent are owned by limited liability corporations or partnerships.

•             Nearly 22 percent of small rental properties (1-4 units) are managed professionally while 84 percent of properties with 150 or more units are managed professionally.

Rental Income and Expenses

•             The median monthly rental receipt per rental unit reached $1,000 compared with $750 in the 2018 RHFS.

•             The median monthly operating expense (not including debt service) is $380 per rental unit.

Property Purchase, Value and Financing

•             The median estimated market value per rental unit is $175,000.

•             The median purchase price per rental unit is $99,000 (not adjusted for inflation).

•             Nearly 41 percent of all rental properties have a mortgage or similar debt, compared with 35 percent of all rental properties that had a mortgage or similar debt in the 2018 survey. For properties with a mortgage, the median debt per rental unit is $180,000 at mortgage origination (not adjusted for inflation), compared with $119,200 in the 2018 Rental Housing Finance Survey.

Capital Expenses and Improvements

•             Nearly 76 percent of property owners reported making some type of capital improvement to their rental property in 2020.

•             Owners annually spend a median of $840 per rental unit on capital improvements.