Austin Now Has More Renters Than Homeowners, Report Finds

AUSTIN, TX — The dream of home ownership continues to elude many Americans, including those in Austin where a majority of residents are now renters rather than homeowners, according to a new study.

In analysis based largely on census data. RENTCafé.com found that 51.3 percent of Austin residents — 475,240 — lived in rental property in 2016, up 5.9 percent from a decade earlier in 2006. Concurrently, the home ownership population fell 5.5 percent in that same period to 451,205 from 475,240 in 2006.

The upshot: Austin added 135,639 more renters in the past decade or so, according to the analysis.

The findings illustrate Austin's entry into the ranks of renter-dominated metro areas, albeit by a little more than a percentage point. The RENTCafé data indicate that Austin now is among 22 metro areas that became renter-dominant markets in the past decade, joining 20 other hubs with the distinction back in 2006.

The span of time leading to Austin renter domination encompassed the housing crisis caused by the subprime mortgage meltdown, the ripple effects of which have yielded 42 of the top 100 metro areas today having more people renting than owning, according to the analysis.

“The idea of owning a home lost much of the charm that once made it a structural element of the American Dream,” RENTCafé researchers wrote in a news release. “Although the most recent data shows [sic] that the growth of the rental segment is losing momentum, it’s in part because home ownership has great losses to recover and it’s just starting to bounce back from the impact of the recession.”

But the trends don't suggest home owners are an endangered species, according to analysts.

"Undoubtedly, the recession had a great impact on home ownership, and it’s hard not to agree if you look at the data from the last decade or so," researchers wrote. "However, it looks like it takes more to discourage Americans from buying a house than that."

Case in point: In 2016, for the first time since 2006, the home owner population grew faster than the renting population, according to RENTCafé researchers: “It seems more and more certain that the fact that renting has seen a sudden gain in popularity is more a reaction to the economic crisis than a paradigm shift in the Americans’ attitude toward housing.”

While some may view Austin's new renter-dominated distinction as an alarming trend, consider the plight of residents elsewhere. While renters now claim the majority locally, the Austin home ownership share would have to erode exponentially more to rival such cities as Boston, Los Angeles, Miami and New York where the renter share is more than 60 percent. Or Newark, N.J., where the renter share is climbing toward 75 percent — the highest in the nation among the top 100 metro areas.

To see the full RENTCafé report, click here.

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