Taylor Scott International News
Buying a home in the United States is still more affordable than renting in the majority of markets, according to the latest analysis from real estate data firm RealtyTrac. But the opposite is true in markets with the biggest increase in the millennial share of the population over the last six years, the research also shows. In the 473 counties covered by the research, the fair market rent for a three bedroom property in 2015 needed an average of 27% of median household income, while buying a median priced home required an average of 25% of median household income based on the median sales price in November. Buying a median priced home was more affordable than renting a three bedroom property in 68% of the counties analysed, representing 57% of the total population in those counties. But in the 25 counties with the biggest increase in millennials between 2007 and 2013, fair market rents for a three bedroom property in 2015 required 30% of the median household income on average while buying a median priced home required 36% of median household income on average. For the analysis millennials were defined as anyone born between 1977 and 1992. ‘First time buyers and potential boomerang home buyers are stuck between a rock and a hard place in today’s housing market. Many of the markets with the jobs and amenities they want have hard-to-afford rents and even harder to afford home prices while the more affordable markets have fewer well-paying jobs and tend to be off the beaten path,’ said Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac. ‘Those emerging markets with the combination of good jobs, good affordability and a growing population of new renters and potential first time buyers represent the best opportunities for buy and hold real estate investors to buy low and benefit from rising rents in the years to come,’ he added. The top markets with the biggest increase in the percentage of millennials over the past seven years were counties in Washington D.C., San Francisco and Denver, all of which saw an increase of more than 50% in the share of the population that is millennials. Other markets in the top 25 for biggest increase in millennials included counties in New York, Nashville, Portland, St. Louis, Seattle, Charlotte, Minneapolis, Indianapolis, Atlanta, Orlando, Austin, Des Moines and Midland, Texas. The average 2015 fair market rent in these top 25 counties is $1,459, some 19% above the national average for all counties analysed, the data also shows. On average 2015 fair rents increased 3% from a year ago in these counties, with the standouts being Denver County and Midland County, Texas, both of which saw fair market rents increase more than 2%. Median home prices increased 8% from a year ago in these counties on average compared to an average 7% increase among all counties analysed nationwide while the average unemployment rate among these counties was 5.2% in October compared to an average of 5.5% for all… Taylor Scott International
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