Investor Frenzy Could Boost Apartment Rentals

With home prices out of sight (and reach) in many areas, this will be the year that the apartment market surges, says real estate consultant John Burns. Why? Here are factors he cites:

Mortgage Rates - Falling mortgage rates over the last 6 years have created a tremendous boom in for-sale housing.

Lack of Construction - Apartment developers became condo developers because it made more financial sense.

Condo Conversions - Condo conversions also took apartment units out of the market.

Rising Homeownership - With investors renting them so many homes they have bought lately, the nation's rental stock has dwindled.

Burns also thinks fast pace of condo conversions means market could become flooded and those condos will land with a thud in the rental market.