LAFAYETTE — Now that the moratorium for rent has been extended to the end of July, many can take a step back and have another month to pay their rent, but some are still wondering how this will affect the housing market once it ends.
Many who are searching for rental properties, rather than apartments, are running into the issue of long waiting lists and slim pickings.
"Whenever I started my search I quickly realized that there wasn't much out there for a renter," says one renter. "When it came time to actually start thinking about putting a deposit down, I started to realize that something that I really liked became more expensive and within two days of it being on the market there were about thirty applicants and then the next day it would be gone."
Jim Keaty, the broker and owner of Keaty Real Estate, says that he has never seen so few rental properties on the market and he says that it's because more and more home owners are selling their homes at higher prices because of the low interest rates.
"Because the prices are higher than ever, a lot of these owners have decided to sell instead of renting, so that is also eating up the rental properties that are available," says Keaty. "We predict that will slow down drastically once those interest rates get above four percent."
With the moratorium ending a month later than expected, many renters are wondering how that might affect the market.
"The moratorium ending, I don't think, will affect much because I don't believe that a lot of people were really affected by it," he says.
But that doesn't change the fact that the younger generation of renters, who are not ready to buy, are being affected.
"I'm just not ready with these times, due to Covid and other factors, I am not ready to make a purchase as big as a house," says one renter. "It's just so hard because there's just not many options out there and I would rather not live in an apartment, but that is what I am beginning to turn to."
Keaty says that if you are looking to rent a property right now, you should contact a local agent to help assist you in your patient hunt for your perfect home.
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