DC: Renting Has Overtaken Homeownership In Many DC Suburbs 2010-19, More Than 49 Maj. Metro Regions [View all]

[appalachiablue]

- NPR, Sept. 27, 2021.

Suburbia is typically viewed as a bastion of homeownership, but a new analysis suggests that renting is the new normal in many D.C. suburbs. The Washington metro region has the nation's highest number of suburban communities that transitioned from majority homeowner to majority renter between 2010 and 2019, according to a recent analysis of Census data by RENTCafé.

This area has 14 suburban areas with renter majorities, more than any of the country's 49 other major metropolitan regions, the report says; the Miami and Los Angeles metropolitan regions rank second and third, respectively.

Merrifield, Virginia saw the greatest rate of change of any metro suburb, with 64% of residents now renting, up from 44% in 2010, according to the analysis. East Riverdale, Maryland went from 38% renter in 2010 to 56% renter in 2019. Other Northern Virginia communities where renting has crept above 50% include Huntington, Hybla Valley, and Lincolnia; in Maryland, Hyattsville, Hillcrest Heights, and College Park have seen a similar change.

The shift is part of a broader pattern, according to the study.

"The very definition of suburban living has been rewritten throughout the last decade as suburbs in the nation's 50 largest metros gained 4.7 million people since 2010 — a whopping 79% of whom were renters," writes Adrian Popa, a writer for RENTCafé. "What's more, between 2010 and 2019, the number of suburban renters grew by 22% — a number that dwarfs the 3% increase in suburban homeowners during the same period."

The study attributes the change to a growing number of residents — especially younger people — priced out of the housing market. Nationally, more than half of suburban renters are younger than 45 with median household earnings around $50,000, according to RENTCafé. Other factors not addressed in the analysis could also be at play, including an increased supply of rental stock in newly developing neighborhoods, changing lifestyle preferences, and rising urban rents that send tenants to the suburbs.

Dozens of other suburban areas could flip to renter-majority in the coming years, encouraged in part by the pandemic, which prompted some cooped-up city dwellers to seek out more square footage...
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https://www.npr.org/local/305/2021/09/27/1040885873/renting-has-overtaken-homeownership-in-many-d-c-suburbs
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~ A tough situation for the young, 'Gen Rent.'