Renting in vogue, owning not so much

The consensus at the Urban Land Institute’s Washington, D.C. conference today: renting is in, homeownership is out. “Renting has become fashionable,” said Anirban Basu, chairman and CEO at the Sage Policy Group. “That is a real sea-change in America.” According to National Mortgage News, Basu went on to explain that the “home building community is in shock… by the lack of recovery” in the housing market. Meanwhilie, Bill Maher, director of LaSalle Investment Management’s North American investment strategy, noted that demand for multi-family rental apartments is high, allowing owners to raise rents. [National Mortgage News]