Found this interesting article, and I'm not surprised (rental vacancies really low in JoCo) (apartments)

[jason87x]

Apartments reach record occupancy in Johnson County

A couple days ago my parents told me JoCo has the highest rental occupancy in the nation. While I'll bet Manhattan in NYC is probably worse, this doesn't surprise me. It was harder than hell to get my apartment because there is nothing decent available. It doesn't seem like much is being built anywhere in the metro either. I had to wait quite awhile at an expensive complex, and I still have a terrible commute.

What I also find crazy is I'm the only 20-something in my entire parents' neighborhood to (still) be living on my own. Every other 20-something in the neighborhood is at home, some after having lived on their own for awhile.

Rental demand is that tight? I mean I guess it makes sense, with tons of people being foreclosed on, overnight we've become a nation of renters. Meanwhile I can see homes in inner JoCo going up in price because of upwardly-mobile Mexican families getting a bargain on their first home.

It looks like the few new homes and such that do get built are getting much smaller than the late 90s early 2000s mini-mansions in Blue Valley.

Any thoughts/comments on how rental supply is way too low?

[MOKAN]

Rental occupancy is very high in all of metro KC. It's been noted in various articles recently. There's been a explosion of apartment developments to go along with it.

I've heard over and over again it's been difficult the past few years for developers to get financing. That's likely one reason why rental supply got so low. I've also been hearing recently that financing has been becoming more available, and I think the fact so many rental developments have been announced recently is evidence of such.

[jason87x]

So then what I think will happen... new apartments get built. In a few years after all these new apartments get built, the economy recovers (let's say 2016 or so) and so with extra apartments, and people moving back into their own homes, will have another few years of a good economy with dirt cheap rents here in the area. Great time to save up a nest egg, for that when the next crash comes, I can buy myself a home at a low low price. Good deal. Too bad I'll have to wait a long time, but it looks like I can't have anything I want right now as it is.

[bls5555]

You have to be an idiot to buy anything but a foreclosure at this point. Renting is the way to go.