Rents in NJ and across the whole country are up. It seems like there are simply more people that want to rent a home then there are homes available. But why?

The answer is simply supply and demand.

Supply: Every decade since 1950, there were at lease 20 million new homes built in the US. In fact, in the 2000’s there were about 27 million homes built. Then the housing crisis happened in 2008. Mortgages defaulted. People lost their homes. Following this, new homebuilding came to a near stop. From 2010-2019 just 5.8 million new homes were built – nearly an 80% drop from the prior decade.

Demand: At the same time millennials are entering the housing market - college graduates having already worked a few years are now ready rent or buy their own home. The problem is, there just are not enough. According to Redfin, the US is likely short about 4 million homes to satisfy the current demand.

The Result: Rents are up as much as 40% in some places and home prices are up significantly.