Redfin: Renter Population Growth Beats Buyers in Q2

(Image courtesy of Redfin; Breakout image courtesy of Lisa Anna/pexels.com)

Redfin, Seattle, released a recent report highlighting that the number of renter households in the U.S. grew more than three times faster than the number of homeowner households in Q2.

The number of renter households was up 1.9% year-over-year to 45.2 million. In comparison, the number of homeowner households grew 0.6% to 86.3 million–also a record, but significantly slower than the growth of renter households.

This was the second-fastest pace of growth in renter households since 2021, with the fastest in Q1. Moreover, it was the slowest pace in homeowner growth since 2019.

Nationwide, 34.4% of households are renters.

The city with the highest percentage of renter households is Los Angeles, at 53%, followed by San Diego (52.4%), New York (50.1%), Fresno, Calif. (49%) and Austin, Texas (46.3%).

“The cost of both renting and buying a home has skyrocketed in recent years, but the affordability crunch isn’t quite as severe in the rental market. That’s because America has been building a lot of apartments to keep pace with robust demand from renters,” said Redfin Senior Economist Sheharyar Bokhari. “The country’s leaders should heed this lesson when considering how to improve affordability in the homebuying market; when there’s more housing to go around, prices don’t increase as fast.”

One factor in the renting boom is the ramp-up in multifamily construction. As of Q2, the U.S. is adding new multifamily housing units at an annual rate of 563,000, the second-fastest pace in records dating back to 1994.