Spokeswoman For Renters Appears Before Newspaper Editors The apartment industry is renewing its election year battle for attention in the nation's newspapers, recently reminding the country's top real estate editors that renting is the choice of millions of Americans - including many who could afford to own their own homes. National Multi Housing Council communications director Kim Duty recently addressed the National Association of Real Estate Editors, meeting in New Orleans, emphasizing that the numbers of renters nationwide is on the increase. "Today, fully 15 percent of American households rent an apartment in a building with five or more units," she said. "And the number of apartment renters is growing. In 1999, the number of people who rent apartments in buildings with five or more units was up 2.2 percent while the total number of households grew just 1.4 percent. "For the last two years, the fastest growing segment of apartment renters was households earning $50,000 or more. These households are part of a growing number who now choose to rent an apartment for lifestyle and not economic reasons." Duty also quoted from a recent Fannie Mae survey, saying that nearly 40 percent of renters surveyed said that buying a home was either "not an important priority" or "not a priority at all." The NMHC's public relations campaign appears to have intensified over the last year. Insiders say the organization is worried that housing policies put forward by candidates Bush and Gore will emphasize homeownership, instead of offering a more balanced approach to the nation's housing concerns. Duty said apartment demand was significant among two key demographic segments: People in their mid-20s and empty-nesters in their 50s. After more than two decades in decline, she said the population in the traditional renting years (20 to 29) is now expected to increase 11 percent in the next decade. She also said the traditional homebuyer - a married couple with children - is rapidly changing to divorced families, single-parent households or re-combined families. Those demographics, she said, tend to favor renting, rather than buying. "In today's hectic times, there are three key reasons why households that would not have previously rented are now considering apartments," Duty said. "One, desire for hassle free living; two, financial reasons; and three, the superior amenity packages available in apartments." She said many modern families need to be able to move from one job to another without incurring the cost of selling a house, so they are choosing apartments. "Others opt to rent so they can invest their money in the stock market instead of in a home," she said. | 
