6 Apartment REITs to Buy for Steady Yields
In a world of minuscule interest rates, investors are searching far and wide for yield. But many of them don't need to look beyond the front door - if they live in an apartment.
Apartment real estate investment trusts (REITs) are well-poised to deliver reliable and growing dividends for the foreseeable future.
Homeownership rates in the United States have fallen, from 69.2% in the second quarter of 2004, to 64.2% at latest count. The decline is due in part to the higher underwriting standards instituted after 2008, and in part to younger Americans struggling to pay rent, let alone a down payment, mortgage bills and other costs of homeownership. Moreover, along the West Coast and in other cities such as Boston and New York, tough zoning laws and "NIMBY-ism" (Not In My Back Yard) prevent adequate new residential construction - a problem that does not look to be rectified easily, if ever.
The 10-year-long U.S. economic recovery and 4% mortgages have bumped up homeownership rates only marginally in recent seasons. Yet as national employment rolls expand, so is demand for housing - but a "severe shortage of housing" has been "too high of a hurdle for
