The build-to-rent industry has been one of the fastest-growing segments of single-family home construction for a number of years — and 2024 was no exception, according to a new report from Point2Homes.
Single-family home rentals are generally larger than multi-family units in apartments or townhomes. Often located in suburban areas, they have access to more outdoor space compared to other rental housing types.
In Bay Area, Santa Rosa has seen 247 of the homes built in the last five years, the most in the region. In other parts of Northern California, Sacramento has seen 889 built and Stockton 304 during the same period.
In Southern California, 1,162 have been built in Riverside, 570 in Los Angeles, 304 in Bakersfield and 227 in San Diego in the last five years. In comparison, Phoenix has seen 12,702 of the units built during the timeframe.
The report notes the build-to-rent sector continues its upward path, fueled by several factors that are slowly reshaping the housing market: Millennials who are creating families and looking to leave traditional apartments, but cannot yet afford homeownership; potential homebuyers of all ages who are sidelined by unaffordable home prices; high-income renters by choice; remote and hybrid workers in need of extra space; retirees; and older homeowners who can’t age in place, but who want the space, financial flexibility and low-maintenance lifestyle that renting offers.
Although the Southern United States continues to lead the Build to Rent single-family homes due to swaths of vacant land, more relaxed zoning policies, and shorter permitting processes, build-to-rent homes are expanding beyond the more established Southwestern markets and into Georgia, North and South Carolina, Florida, and even California. In 2024, California added more than 1,800 house rentals and will complete 2,270 in the not-too-distant future, according to the report.
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