Census Stats: Renting's on Rise in LA

LOS ANGELES-A new Census Bureau report says a growing number of residents here are renting apartments instead of buying homes, even as homeownership levels across the US continue to reach record highs.

The report drew immediate responses from some affordable-housing groups, who say the government must do more to encourage the construction of low-cost housing and launch more programs aimed at turning renters into owners. But the study also suggests that LA could remain among the nation’s most promising multifamily markets for investors for at least the next several years.

The report is based on figures collected from the 2000 US Census. It says that the nationwide homeownership rate climbed to a record 66% last year, meaning that only 34% of Americans rent instead of own.