Ethnicity is also important when planning and marketing a community. In 2005, Lachman reported, a little over 25% of whites rented. Minorities, meanwhile, had more of a propensity to rent, with 50.5% of Hispanics, 40.8% of Asians and 51.8% of Blacks living in rental units. And between 2005 and 2015, it's expected that minorities will form 6.8 million new households, compared with 4.7 million whites.

Developers, said Lachman, "Will be far more successful in capturing the prime renter demographic if you respect and cater to cultural differences." It helps, she said, to provide bilingual options both on community websites as well as when staffing.

In terms of immigrants, Lachman noted that currently, more than 12% of the US population and 14% of workers are foreign-born, and in the next 10 years, immigrants will account for one-third of all household formation. This segment of the population is also most likely to rent, and the firm's research found that more than 60% of all immigrant households that came to the US since 1980 are renters. However, foreign-born households are also more likely to have critical housing needs, exacerbating the need for affordable product.

In fact, affordable product is necessary for all types of renters, not just immigrants and minorities. Lachman noted that at least three out of every 10 renters pay more than 30% of their income on housing, and data show that most of the payroll gains in coming years will be in low-wage earning occupations. Further, a growing population of seniors and young adults will need affordable housing, as will recent homebuyers that can't take on the cost burden of owning a single-family house and therefore move back into the rental market.

Among other takeaways from Lachman's comments is that "demand favors niche products," such as in-city live-work units, "new urbanism" apartments over retail, suburban loft apartments, transit-oriented residential development, condo-hotels, green buildings and seniors housing near universities. Interestingly, she reported, "residential demand will continue to be strongest in suburbs where job growth occurs, despite talk of resurgence in the center cities." This, she says, will result in more redevelopment in the suburbs.