HousingLink Blog
The Shrinking Shadow Market
A trend we have our eyes on is the shrinking shadow market. Since we started tracking Twin Cities rental market data in 2011, the shadow market consistently made up 60% or more of twin cities rental listings. However, the last two quarters it has made up 55% and 52%. Possible explanations to this trend are the improving real estate market, with more people opting to sell their homes than rent them out, or the fact that shadow market rentals turn over less frequently than apartments.
A recent national survey of renters (single family and multi-family) by Premier Property Management out of Memphis, TN showed some interesting findings. For example:
- 52% of all rental units in the U.S. are single-family homes, housing 27% of renters.
- Most, 3.6 million, were originally built for owner occupancy, but became rental when their owners lost them to foreclosure.
- Single family home tenants are 25% more likely than apartment tenants to stay in their current home five years or longer.