MCLEAN, VA—Trading a rental for the dream of homeownership? Not so fast, according to the latest Freddie Mac survey of renters. An even larger majority of those surveyed said they expect to rent their next home: 59%, up from 55% six months ago.
Not surprisingly, the biggest gains in this cohort were seen among younger Millennials, for whom homeownership may be a foreign concept. Seventy-three percent of those surveyed said they planned to rent their next home, compared to 64% in September 2016. Another group that registered a preference for staying in the renter pool was suburban households, up from 48% six months ago to 57% in the most recent Freddie survey.
There were still renters among those surveyed for Freddie who aspire to homeownership, but fewer than last time. The percentage of renters who expect to eventually own declined to 41% from 45% in the previous survey. Along similar lines, the number of renters who said they were working toward homeownership fell from 21% in September to 15% this time around.
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Paul Bubny
Paul Bubny is managing editor of Real Estate Forum and GlobeSt.com. He has been reporting on business since 1988 and on commercial real estate since 2007. He is based at ALM Real Estate Media Group's offices in New York City.
