A by-product of the housing crisis is a robust rental market. Between people who can’t sell their homes in other states and others who have gone through short-sales, foreclosures or just simply walked away from their home, the demand for rentals are high. Add on to that list people who are in a position to buy but, strangely, aren’t convinced that now isn’t the time to purchase. It usually sounds like this; “We’re not sure what we want to do or where we want to be so we’re going to rent for a year and figure it out”.

This has created an incredibly tight rental market putting those needing to rent in a position of having to react very quickly in order to get a property. Some real estate agents echo that sentiment as well. While not all real estate agents out there work with renters because, frankly there isn’t any money in it, those that do will sound a consistent refrain; “I wish I had 5 more rentals like that, it rented out in a day”.

I don’t have data showing trends here in North Atlanta because I don’t typically work with renters, but here are two charts reflecting national trends:

Helping Home Sellers

Home prices have fallen and rental rates have risen over the past 2 years. Mortgages have stayed incredibly cheap; so much so that investors have jumped back in the market on low home prices in order to capitalize on high rental demand. At the same time first-time buyers who are currently renting are finally seeing the value again in owning vs renting.

Because of these trends, pay very close attention to the lower price points for home sales. These are the first areas where inventory will tighten to the point of almost becoming a sellers market. Yes, I said sellers market. We aren’t there yet but it’s approaching very fast in the lower price ranges. More so in North Fulton and East Cobb. Forsyth County still needs to work through a higher level of inventory before we’re there.