More Americans are ‘renting for the long run’ as ownership gets harder

We’re seeing a real shift in the U.S. housing market: more households are becoming long-term renters, not temporary ones waiting to buy.

Scotsman Guide reports the U.S. added nearly 10.5 million renter households from 2000 to 2024, with rentership back on the rise as affordability falls. The national homeownership rate is still in the mid‑60% range, but a growing share of households are staying renters for longer stretches instead of transitioning quickly into ownership.

Point2Homes data (via Scotsman Guide) shows 43 cities have flipped to renter-majority over the past 25 years, compared with only 18 that shifted to owner-majority. Investor activity has followed: nearly one-fifth of all single-family homes are now owned by real estate investors, and single-family rentals are becoming a bigger piece of the market.

On the flip side, a stalled purchase market is reshaping retail. Globest notes that furniture, appliance and home-improvement retailers are staying afloat thanks to renters refreshing and upgrading existing homes, even as home sales slump. And small landlords are increasingly choosing slightly-below-market rents to keep stable tenants, according to WebProNews.

If you’re renting longer than you expected, are you leaning into upgrades and stability where you are, or still doing everything you can to buy ASAP?