Landlord Nation: Boomers’ New Retirement Plan Is Millennials Paying Rent

Source: Bloomberg

Redfin Chief Executive Glenn Kelman says an increasing number of Americans are joining the ranks of what he deems the “Landlord Nation,” a group of mom-and-pop investors who have seized on low mortgage rates and robust rent growth to plow savings into rental properties. As a result, the percentage of single-family houses used as rental properties has risen to stratospheric heights. The share of single-family homes used as rental properties has surged to a 30-year high, while the number of starter homes on the market dropped by more than 44 percent from the first quarter of 2012 to the first quarter of this year. When the housing bubble burst, millions of homeowners were pushed into foreclosure, creating a ripe patch of cheap housing for would-be landlords—and a new pool of renters to absorb the supply.