2000 to 19.6% in 2009 and the number of Latino19 renters has increased <br />from 1.9 million in 1980 to 7.0 million in 2009. Demographics will also <br />play a role. Growth in young adult households will increase demand for <br />moderately priced rentals, in part because the oldest echo boomers <br />reached their late-20s in 2010. Meanwhile, growth among those between <br />the ages of 45 and 64 will lift demand for higher-end rentals. Given <br />current trends in home prices and interest rates, conditions will become <br />increasingly favorable for rental markets in the coming years. <br />The Joint Center for Housing Studies highlights two recent trends in rental <br />demographics: growth in demand among married couples and higher- <br />income households. Increasingly, married couples rent rather than own. <br />From 2006-2011, married couples accounted for 50% of the growth in <br />renter households. In the last five years, the number of higher-income <br />households renting has also increased. It is unclear whether these trends <br />are solely a result of the foreclosure crisis and the Great Recession or if <br />they will persist as the economy improves. <br />Despite decades of growth and the recent decline in vacancy rates, rents <br />have failed to keep pace with inflation. Between the peak in late 2008 and <br />April 2010, inflation-adjusted rents fell by 2.9%. Between 2010 and 2011, <br />inflation-adjusted rents decreased by 1.5%. Although falling rents show <br />signs of a weak rental housing market, they do help to alleviate pressure <br />on low-income households struggling to pay their rent. However, the <br />upper-end of the rental market is showing widespread increases in rent. <br />In 2011, inflation-adjusted rent increased in nearly 60% of the markets <br />tracked by MPF Research (Figure 8). Rent increases were largest in the <br />West (5.2%) and the Northeast (6.5%). <br />19 Throughout this document, we generally refer to Hispanic and Latino people with the term <br />"Latino". In some tables or charts, we refer to Hispanic or Latino people. And when describing <br />people who are not Hispanic nor Latino, we use the term "non-Hispanic", based on terminology <br />from the U.S. Census. <br />Page 42 ECONorthwest Part 11 - Eugene Housing Needs Analysis <br />