In recent years, the foreclosure crisis has added to the demand for lower cost housing such as multi-family housing units. According to the BBC, 1.7 million single family home foreclosures occurred throughout the U.S. in the first eight months of 2007. [2] As recently as December 4th, Ben Bernanke stated on NPR that lenders appear to be on track to initiate 2.25 million foreclosures in 2008, up from an average annual pace of less than 1 million during the pre-crisis period.

Single family homes foreclosures this year are expected to put two million families out of their homes. These families will likely seek residence in less expensive homes such as rental units.

The immanent growth of the rental property market in the U.S. exists, regardless of the impact of single family home foreclosures. The following table reveals rental property growth in the U.S. from 2007 to 2012. As observed in the table, housing rental units will expand from 36.8 million to 39.1 million during the five-year period.