By John Burns, CEO
When researching our new book Big Shifts Ahead, we learned that 40% of all kids are born to an unmarried mom and 32% of all kids live with only one parent. The expenses of raising children alone make it very difficult to become a homeowner.
24% of kids live primarily with mom (a 400% increase since 1960), and 8% of kids live with dad (a 900% increase since 1960).
With 68% of families having only one parent, we assume that most struggle to save even the 3.5% down payment required for FHA financing. We also assume that many of these parents aren’t willing to commute very far, making them more likely to live in the more expensive areas closer to employment centers. Therefore, they rent.
This significant shift in homeownership demand was less apparent in the mid-2000s when families were not required to document their income. Today, this shift in demand is quite apparent.
Single-family rental landlords have benefitted tremendously from this shift in demand.
