from NMHC
New data from the Housing Vacancy Survey underscore NMHC’s claims that rental housing is becoming increasingly important to the housing sector. According to the survey, 2.83 million new renter households were created in the last four years, the biggest such gain in 24 years.
This increase more than offsets the 2.05 million renter households lost in the seven-year period of 1998-2004 when the homeownership bubble was gaining steam. In 2008 alone, 63 percent of net new households were occupied by renters.