Greenbook: A Local Guide to Chesapeake Living - Issue 6 | Page 41

Market update
greenbook
J. Melvin Premier properties

Flipped Homes Fall to 4.5% in Q2
RealtyTrac® recently released
its Q1 2015 Residential Property
Rental Report, which ranks
the best markets for buying
residential rental properties in
the first quarter of 2015. The
report also looks at which markets
are seeing the biggest increases
in rental rates in 2015 compared
to 2014, and provides rankings
of the best safe haven residential
rental markets, along with the
best markets for renting to
Millennials, best markets for
renting to Generation Xers,
and best markets for renting
to Baby Boomers.
“With homeownership rates at
their lowest level in 20 years,
historically low levels of housing
starts and relatively low home
prices in many parts of the
country, there is still plenty of
opportunity in the U.S. housing
market for single family rental
investors employing a variety of
investing strategies,” says Daren
Blomquist, vice president at
RealtyTrac. “Whether focusing
on markets where homeownership
shy Millennials are migrating,
markets where recovering Gen
X homeowners-turned-renters

are prevalent, or markets Baby
Boomers are testing for retirement, investors can find good
options with solid potential rental
returns.

“There are certainly markets
where buying single family
rentals no longer makes sense
because of rapidly rising prices
over the past few years,”
Blomquist added. “Savvy single
family rental investors will tread
cautiously in such markets despite
the siren song of strong home
price appreciation.”  

For the report, RealtyTrac
analyzed median sales prices for
single family homes and condos
and average fair market rents for
three bedroom properties, along
with unemployment rates and
demographic trends in 516 U.S.
counties with a combined population of 236 million people — 76%
of the total U.S. population. (See
full methodology below.)

The 516-county analysis found
an average potential return on
residential rental properties of
9.04% in the first quarter
of 2015, down slightly from an

average potential annual
return of 9.06 percent for
residential rentals purchased in
the third quarter of 2014—the
most recent residential rental
property report issued by
RealtyTrac.

Best markets for buying
residential rentals in
Georgia, Maryland, Virginia
and Michigan Markets with
the highest potential rental
returns were Clayton County,
Ga., in the Atlanta metro area
(25.83 percent), Bibb County,
Ga., in the Macon metro area
(22.33 percent), Baltimore City,
Md., (20.99 percent), Richmond
City, Va., (20.42 percent),
and Wayne County, Mich., in
the Detroit metro area (19.34
percent).
Best markets for renting to
Millennials. Among the 516
counties analyzed there were
50 where the millennial share
of the population was above the
national average of 22 percent,
where the millennial population
increased at least 5 percent
between 2007 and 2013, and
where potential annual rental
greenbook | fall & Winter 2015

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