Many Apartment Renters Fear They Will Never Become Homeowners

Ask housing providers about consumers’ preference for renting versus owning and they will likely say that their product’s popularity is where the country is heading.

Multifamily operators suggest empty-nester trends, the desire of younger professionals to live downtown and the convenience that comes with the opportunity to not have to deal with maintenance and repairs.

Homeownership brings a certain economic prestige and rising home prices – almost no matter how you slice them – show that the so-called “American Dream” is a good investment.

Lending Tree last month surveyed consumers and found that 48 percent of current renters fear they will stay in these housing ranks indefinitely.

Large Majority Would Rather Own a Home

Furthermore, 88 percent of Americans would rather own a home than rent. More specifically, 76 percent of renters would rather own a home, but only 2 percent of homeowners would rather rent.

While owning a home has always been a major dream of American consumers, rising home prices have made homeownership even harder to attain — but perhaps more attractive.

Gen-X Says Homeownership is Out of Reach

Of those renters who are most set with apartment living, 55 percent of Gen-Xers who don’t currently own are most concerned — more than any other age group.

A small 12 percent share of consumers would prefer to rent their homes — though only 2 percent of those who currently own.

LendingTree researchers surveyed 2,050 consumers from Aug. 2-6, 2021, to gauge their feelings on homeownership and find what’s stopping them from buying. Other key takeaways from the survey:

• Consumers want the ability to customize their homes. The most popular reason for people wanting to own is flexibility to do what they want with the space (63 percent), followed by stability (55 percent) and the pride of homeownership (50 percent).
• Down payments are the biggest barriers holding back those who want to own a home but don’t currently. More than half (54 percent) of that group say they can’t afford a down payment. 
• Contrary to consumers who want the stability of owning, many rent-preferring respondents (38 percent) enjoy the flexibility to move to different places. Those who currently own are less concerned with committing to a location, but the property taxes make 54 percent of homeowners wish they rented.