Since 1995 when President Clinton signed the Fair Housing Act, home ownership was on a rise until the entire house of cards came crashing down in 2007. At that time, home ownership was at 69% after peaking at 70% in 2004 and renting a home or an apartment was falling. Well now the tides have changed and owning a home is steadily falling to it’s current level of 66.4%. Don’t expect it to stay at that level either since analyst are predicting/estimating that it will fall to the levels not seen since the 1990′s. They’re looking to see it fall to about the 63%-64% level over the next couple of years.
Add to the fact that since the federal government is still a major player in the housing market, I expect to see housing prices continue to fall another 10% (at least), before a real bottom can be called. Foreclosures are still keeping pace to the levels since the bubble popped. Take into consideration that unemployment isn’t getting any better and the current situation in Washington doesn’t help the matter at all.
So what does all of this tell you? Well if you’re looking for investments to help secure your financial situation, it’s time to start looking for some great rental properties to buy. Rental properties are needed for those Americans that have been hit the hardest and can’t afford to own a home. In many parts of the country, the apartment vacancy rate has fallen to 6% which means there are less places for renters to get into. After the mess that has happened in America, many wonder if the American view of owning a home has changed from what it has been known as, a symbol of prosperity and security. With that in mind, buying rental properties may be the best thing to do at this moment. For those who can take advantage of the housing market, you’ll be in a good position in a few years once people start looking again to owning a home.
I’ve been adding to my stable of rental properties for a few months now and I’ve been able to get some great deals. Banks are currently looking to get out from under the bad mortgage situation. Because of that alone, it’s time to look into foreclosure properties as an investment. Banks are not in the business of home owning, they’re in the financial business.
You need to do your due diligence when looking to buy rental properties. Just because rental properties are needed across the country, doesn’t mean it’s a high priority in your city or town. In a future post, I’ll go over a few of the basics you need to know to get a great deal on a home.
Search Related Tags: foreclosures, housing market, Investment Properties, investments, rental properties
I’ve commented on this recently; in my area, there are a ton of houses for sale (granted, many of them are pretty crappy) but not as much in the way of rentals. Higher end homes in particular (not that I can afford those!) seem to be priced much lower than they were just a few years ago.
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