The high cost of housing means more people are being priced out of not only owning a home but also renting alone. The share of adults 65 and over looking to rent with a roommate has tripled in the past decade, according to the listings site SpareRoom.
“They’re not the biggest group of roommates, but they’re by far the fastest growing,” said the site’s communications director, Matt Hutchinson.
SpareRoom finds that roommates in general are skewing older. Young people are living with their parents longer, unable to afford moving out or simply trying to save up. Meanwhile, more people in their 50s, 60s and older are unable to make it on their own.
Renting makes sense if the monthly cost is significantly less than what it costs to buy AND you save the difference and invest it. The last part is key, because it makes your retirement income higher and thus able to handle increasing rents. If you don’t save the difference (including if you are unable to), then you are actually falling behind.
Another factor that needs to be considered is multi-family housing vs single-family, which is a distinction that is separate from the rent vs buy discussion.
Fwiw, I’m firmly in the “rent MFH, buy SFH”. I don’t want to buy a condo or rent a house.