RealtyTrac Ranks Best Overall Markets for Buying Residential Rentals and Renting to Boomers and Millennials

Daren Blomquist

IRVINE, CA, July 3, 2014 — RealtyTrac® (www.realtytrac.com), the nation’s leading source for comprehensive housing data, today released its Q2 2014 Residential Property Rental Report, which ranks the best markets for buying residential rental properties along with the best markets for renting to baby boomers and the best markets for renting to millennials.

The 370-county analysis found that investors buying U.S. residential rental property in the second quarter of 2014 are getting an average annual return of 9.97 percent, down from an average annual return of 10.60 percent a year ago.

Median home prices in the 370 counties analyzed in the report increased more than 7 percent on average in the second quarter of 2014 compared to a year ago, while average fair market rents for three-bedroom homes increased an average of less than 1 percent.

“Home prices have increased at a faster pace than fair market rents in most counties over the past year, eroding the average returns available to investors buying rental properties,” said Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac.

 “Even so, an average annual return of nearly 10 percent across all the counties we analyzed nationwide is still solid, and investors holding on to rental property for the long term will also typically benefit from home price appreciation on top of the annual returns from rental income.

“Investors leveraging demographic trends will often be able to amplify rental returns and home price appreciation, particularly when it comes to trends in the baby boomer and millennial generations, which combined account for approximately 147 million people — more than 60 percent of the U.S. adult population,” Blomquist continued. 

“Many individuals in both of those demographic groups are in the midst of major life changes that will often involve changes in housing, something that smart real estate investors should take into consideration when deciding when and where to buy or sell.”

For a complete copy of the company’s news release, please contact:

Jennifer von Pohlman

PR Manager

Office: 949.502.8300 ext 139

jennifer.vonpohlmann@realtytrac.com