Wednesday, December 14, 2005

Fewer Rental Units

The great demand for new housing and the real estate boom created one major problem - of fewer rental units. As the demand for homes kept rising rental apartments and other rental projects got shelved instead builders started selling these apartment units as condos after upgrading them.

Many of the homes were bought by out of town investors who never really wanted to live in them. They were buying their second or third homes as investment property to sell later when the market peaked or as holiday homes.

The craze for condo conversions meant that existing rental apartments were converted into condos, many units were sold back to the residents of the apartments but others who could not afford the downpayments had no choice but to move to other locations.

The non-availability of developable land means that the rental projects get the lowest priority when housing projects are considered. The temporary workers from out side the city and other low-income groups are the most affected the fewer rental units available for renting.

posted by Diane @ 12:02 AM