This study took into account all costs associated with buying or renting over a seven-year period. Certainly, this is good news that more manufactured housing professionals need to be unaware of and capitalize on.
As rent are rapidly increases in some metropolitan areas, protests have occurred, with protestors mentioning those words dreaded by owners and property managers – “rent control.” But that’s another story.
Kolko said that among the 25 largest rental markets, San Francisco has had the fastest rise in price, with an increase of 14.4 percent in October from a year earlier. It now costs a median of $3,600 to rent a two-bedroom unit in that area. In other metropolitan areas, rent increased by 6.2 percent. It seems that rent in the least affordable housing markets are the fastest rising, making it tough for people to find affordable housing.
“Prices and rents have both risen faster than wages,” says Kolko. “Those big increases in rents make buying look more attractive, but at the same time, it makes it harder to save for a down payment if you’re spending more on rent.”
The buying-over-renting advantage ranges from 17 percent cheaper in Honolulu to 63 percent cheaper in Detroit. The prices of renting and buying are closer in California and New York, while the gap is widest in the Midwest and South.
In addition to rent control, the typical approach to dealing with a tight rental market is basically to build more housing. These types of situations are opportunities for the manufactured housing industry to gain entry into new markets.
The full methodology for the rent vs. buy calculations are linked here as a PDF download. Will more MH businesses, associations and professionals target residents living in that surging rental market with its rising rents to sell more factory built homes? ##
(Graphic credit: Trulia)
