Since the publication of the report “Rental Housing Market Condition Measures: 2009” on the rental housing market in the nation’s 50 most populous metropolitan statistical areas (metro areas) based on the 2009 American Community Survey (ACS), the housing landscape has changed.¹ The recession has officially ended. However, with the subsequent decline in the homeownership rate over the last several years, an increasingly larger percentage of households are seeking to rent. This report will look at four measures of rental market conditions and their changes between 2009 and 2011: housing costs, housing cost burdens, rental vacancy rates, and renter share of total households.

__________
¹ For a detailed explanation of the metropolitan statistical areas in this report, go to <www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/assets/omb/bulletins/fy2009/09-01.pdf>.