The profile of the typical renter has changed dramatically throughout the last decade. The number of renters who are professionals aged 30 and above keeps growing. Baby boomers, it seems, like their apartments.

According to the National Multifamily Housing Council, the median age for U.S. apartment-dwellers was 37 years old in 1999. And, says NMHC, a study of Census Bureau figures shows that the fastest growth in the multifamily housing market is in the upscale market -- those earning $50,000 or more annually.

In effect, a large number of people who presumably could be buyers have elected not to purchase. Shunning the opportunity for tax benefits and the possibility of appreciation, many baby boomers are opting for the more flexible, maintenance-free lifestyle available with rental properties.

Boomers in the middle income brackets and above are finding larger apartments stocked with a full range of luxury amenities -- including many features they simply couldn't afford in a home of their own.

And yet, given that the American dream of homeownership is so strong, why is it that affluent renters are staying away from homeownership?

NMHC suggests several reasons:

• Demographic changes. We have increasing numbers of people in their mid-20s and empty nesters in their 50s, two of the groups most likely to select apartment living.

  "After more than two decades of declining in number, the population in the traditional renting years (age 20-29) is expected to increase 11 percent between now and 2010," says NMHC.

• "Typical" households are changing. NMHC says that we have fewer households with married couples and two children, the so-called "traditional household."

  "These households have been declining in number since 1970, and now account for just one quarter of all households," says NMHC. "In their place are a growing number of nontraditional households who are more likely to choose apartment living - childless couples, people who live alone and nonfamily/nonrelated households. In fact, in the 1990s, two-thirds of all new households were headed by single adults or single-parent families."

• Tax changes. NMHC argues that, "the 1997 Tax Act profoundly changed the rent versus buy decision by making the first $500,000 of capital gains on homes sold by joint filers exempt from tax ($250,000 for single filers). Freed from the prospect of a huge tax liability, more homeowners are free to consider renting."

  The association says that apartment demand could increase 10 percent during the next several years due to this tax law change alone.

• Smart growth. You might think that concerns about the environment and the fledgeling "smart growth" movement would result in less apartment construction. Not so, says NMHC. The group says that suburban jurisdictions see apartments as a way to reduce pollution and make better use of existing facilities.

• Fewer hassles. Time-pressed young professionals, says NMHC, want to simplify their lives and spend less time commuting. Empty nesters want fewer house-related chores and they want to be closer to entertainment, restaurants and shopping.

• Better terms. NMHC says that many large owners have essentially changed traditional lease arrangements by "instituting things like 30-day no risk trial periods, 24-hour maintenance request guarantees, flexible lease times, even rent-to-own programs."

In addition to NMHC's explanation for the growing interest in apartments by those who might readily opt for homeownership, some others come to mind:

*Downsizing is a fact of life despite our relatively healthy economy; in fact, layoffs occur as companies merge, replace people with technology, and exhibit other signs of "growth." Terms such as "realignment" and "restructure" are not normally associated with "major financial commitment."

*We live in a mobile society. For many people, the idea of a near-term move and the purchase of a home conflict.

*In households with two wage-earners, it can happen that one receives a transfer, an event which raises an array of issues regarding whether to stay, move, own, or not own.

While buying a home remains a fundamental financial and social goal, the reality is that not everyone is a good ownership candidate. In some cases, the money is there but the time and other factors aren't quite right, with the result that apartment construction continues at a strong pace.

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