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Boom in Tampa Bay single-family home rentals means fewer houses for sale

 
Published Dec. 14, 2017

imes Staff Writer

A boom in rentals of single- family homes is contributing to the severe shortage of houses for sale nationwide. In the Tampa Bay area, 18.2 percent of all houses are being rented out instead of being put on the market, Zillow found. In what it calls the "least valuable third of the market," 42 percent of bay area houses are rentals while in the most valuable third, only 25 percent are rented.

Nationally, about 19 percent of all houses are rentals, which lowered annual home sales by 270,000 last year.

"The number of single-family homes that are rented remains near the highest levels ever recorded," said Zillow senior economist Aaron Terrazas. "The combination of foreclosures and growing rental demand following the housing crash was an attractive opportunity for investors, who were able to buy foreclosed homes and use them to meet the rental demand. At the same time, many long-time owners have opted to hold onto their homes as rentals even after they decide to move somewhere else."

The upshot: The rental boom is driving up sale prices for houses, particularly among the most affordable homes with the highest demand.