Greystar's Bob Faith

As much as homeownership was pushed as vital to the “American Dream” over the past several years, it’s becoming clear that owning a home has turned out to be more of a nightmare for some. Experts from a variety of fields concur that more attention needs to be given to rental housing, a smaller yet critical component of the US housing market.One of those voices is Bob Faith, chairman and CEO of Greystar Real Estate Partners, a Charleston, SC-based company that specializes in multifamily management, development and investment, overseeing more than 150,000 units in over 75 markets across the US. Given the economic, social and demographic shifts occurring in the country, he maintains that rental housing is increasingly becoming a more fundamental part of the American Dream. “Now, more than any other time, we as an industry have the opportunity to redefine apartment living as the new American dream,” Faith said during a speech he gave last month. Recently, Faith spoke with GlobeSt.com about this point, what needs to be done to bring the rental market back into the spotlight and what’s in store for the industry. Globest.com: You’ve said that renting is as fundamental to the American Dream as homeownership. Can you elaborate on that a bit?

Faith: There are so many benefits of the rental lifestyle, particularly because our culture is changing. Today’s population of 18 to 34 year olds are likely to have many more jobs than the prior generation at that age, so there will be more people in that age group with career stability as the economy changes. People need a lot more flexibility than they had before.

The other thing is that when you have such a devastating economic crunch, it really does scar people’s psyche. There’s going to be a lot of folks that decide homeownership is perhaps not for them, recognizing the risks that come along with it.