The typical renter is changing. More baby boomers are now ditching their homes to rent instead.
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00:00 The typical renter is changing.
00:03 More baby boomers are now ditching their homes
00:05 to rent instead.
00:07 Research from Harvard University's
00:08 Joint Center for Housing Studies
00:10 finds from 2009 to 2019,
00:12 the total number of rental households increased by 14%.
00:17 But at the same time,
00:18 renters age 65 and older jumped by 43%.
00:22 There are more people who have reached this age by now,
00:24 which is part of it,
00:26 but more of them are renting as well.
00:28 - The boomers are just a huge, huge, huge generation.
00:32 And people are living longer right now.
00:34 So whatever they choose to do
00:35 is gonna have ripple effects throughout the housing market.
00:38 - Claire Trapazzo with Realtor.com says,
00:40 "More baby boomers are choosing to rent
00:42 for a number of reasons,
00:43 including not wanting to deal with home maintenance anymore.
00:46 Others are looking to sell their home to cash in
00:49 while they can with prices still at near record highs.
00:52 But the rental market is still expensive too."
00:55 The good news from the most recent numbers
00:57 from Realtor.com show that rental prices fell
01:00 for the third month in a row in July,
01:02 going down 1% year over year.
01:05 But rent is still about 25% higher than this time in 2019.
01:10 Things that could help you save
01:12 are reconsidering how big of a place you actually need
01:15 and also living farther from downtown.
01:18 - There are a growing number of landlords
01:19 who will accept rental deposit insurance
01:23 in lieu of a big rental deposit,
01:25 which is often about one month's rent
01:27 or higher in some cases.
01:29 And, you know, check out these companies that'll do that.
01:31 Often you pay monthly instead of having to come up
01:34 with a big lump sum all at once.
01:36 And that can help folks also
01:37 to get into an apartment they wanna be in.
01:39 - She says builders have been racing to put up more rentals,
01:42 so that's something that should translate
01:44 into less competition
01:46 and potentially lower prices going forward.