Renters not looking to buy despite increasing rates

Rental rates are going up and up, but that doesn’t seem to be pushing many people into buying a home.

With low mortgage rates, the increasing cost of rent, and a boom in apartment construction analysts had expected the vacancy rate to go up this year, but the Seattle Times reports just the opposite is happening in King and Snohomish Counties.

According to industry analyst Apartment Insights, more than 2,000 new apartments have been added over the last year.

Meanwhile, the average rent has gone up nearly six percent in that time. While analysts had expected to see many people leaving the rental market to buy a home, they say that simply isn’t happening.

New employees at Amazon, Microsoft, and Google are filling up the new apartment space quickly.