There is a real estate boom. Not new houses, not existing houses, but rentals.
Sales of existing houses fell 4% in February. New home sales went up 2% that month. But, they fell 13% in January. More and more homeowners are finding their home values are below their mortgages. Under water.
But, apartment vacancy rates dropped to 6.6% last year. Rents rose 2.3%. It is forecast that there cold be 4.5 million new renter households over the next five years.
This is very bad news. A collapse in single family ownership could create a new bubble, a rental bubble.
Even sadder, a friend of mine recently went to work selling RV’s. He used to be a dealer and flunked retirement, so he’s back selling RV’s again. He says the biggest difference is the people coming in for housing, not toys. Many are elderly and have lost their houses and have no credit to really buy anything substantial.
This country is in really bad shape and getting worse every day. This is just further evidence.
