Multifamily Housing: The Preferred Choice of US Citizens

While the US has historically been a country where people aspire to home ownership ,the trend has been changing to more and more people renting rather than owning. The reason behind this shift lies somewhere in President Bill Clinton’s tenure and “The National Homeownership Strategy.”

How the Market Changed
Today, America is experiencing more and more families that want or need to rent rather than purchase. In fact, homeownership is at an all-time low in United States. Experts believe that the economic downturn and the current demographic of the country are the cause for this change. Let’s see the main pointers that brought home ownership rate to 64.7 percent.

Multifamily Housing - The New Hot Property
Multi-housing was never a fad in America till last decade. Americans have always preferred single housing for their love of open backyards and of course the barbeque. In 1995, Clinton government’s net strategy brought about a huge boom in home ownership across the country. This period saw huge sales in single housing units where are multifamily units grossly lagged behind. This is where the seeds of change were sown. One day at a time, single housing lost its charm. How?

Sluggish Economy
The 1995 real estate boom saw a huge downturn in the early 2000’s. When the economy was down, most of the people lost their jobs and single housing became easily unaffordable. More and more people started renting or went for multifamily options which were much cheaper at that time because of low sales. Now multifamily units have become the new trend with the current generation.

Change in Demographic Pattern
The current demographic pattern suggests that most people who purchased a new house in late 1990s didn’t need to buy again. Their children who were young adults during the economic downturn are finally settling down now. So, homeownership is taking a turn again, yet, the response is still lukewarm. Even many affordable housing contractors have failed to sell single units.

Tight Mortgage Norms
Getting a mortgage on single family units in today’s economy has become very difficult as compared to a mortgage on multifamily units. So, we can safely say that current economic conditions and new government policies have also actively contributed to the fame of multifamily housing.

Psychographic Changes
Rampant development plans, knee jerk financial policies and the changing demographics of the nation have changed how the country likes to live their life. Nowadays, people are more bent towards convenience and security. A multifamily unit means sharing responsibilities and a whole lot of security which comes from living in a close knit structure.

Conclusion
Today’s generation prefers not having to mow a lawn over missing a Memorial Day lawn party, on their personal property. Most affordable housing contractors are doing good business selling and renting multifamily units. It looks like this real estate trend is going to sweep the United States with a completely new and modernistic lifestyle.