Data Shows an Increase in People Living in Studios and Apartments in Michigan
By: Tara Giltner Mar. 07, 2018
The total amount of studio apartments (an apartment without a bedroom) and apartments with 3 or more bedrooms increased between 2009 and 2016. During the same time period, the numbers of occupied homes with one and two bedrooms decreased.
While 2-bedroom rentals experienced a decrease, they remained the largest share of rental residences in the state, holding 38.69 percent of the rental market. These findings are based on a Gavop study of the latest information from the U.S. Census Bureau.
In 2016, 32.37 percent of all renter-occupied homes in Michigan consisted of three or more bedrooms, up from 31.35 percent in 2009. The trend paralleled the national average, which also saw a slight rise in renter-occupied three or more-bedroom units and rested at 32.09 percent of the total share of homes in 2016. Counties with the highest change in proportion included Ottawa County, with a 59.54 percent change, and Macomb County, with a 57.86 percent change.
Studios, or homes with no bedrooms, took up a much smaller portion of the overall market but experienced greater change over time. Rented studios in Michigan comprised 3.95 percent of occupied rentals in 2016, up from 3.18 percent in 2009. Counties that saw the largest share increases reported drastic upticks. Ottawa County reported a 324.78 percent change in renter-occupied homes with no bedrooms. The number of rented studios in Ottawa County rose from 448 units in 2009 to 1,903 units in 2016.
Macomb County experienced strong growth as well, with a 156.23 percent change over the same timespan. The county reported 4,115 rented studios in 2016, opposed to 1,606 units in 2009. Only one county experienced a decrease over time: Wayne County numbers dropped by 11.94 percent, falling from 11,047 units in 2009 to 9,728 units in 2016.
Many of the counties that experienced drops in occupied 1-bedroom rentals also experienced high drops in 2-bedroom rentals. Kalamazoo, Berrien, and Ingham counties all reported the deepest drops in rented 1- and 2-bedroom homes.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tara Giltner
Tara Giltner is a freelance writer, editor and creative professional, specializing in real estate, government and community relations. She has worked in the corporate, family-owned and startup worlds, writing and managing the production of national brand rollouts, international marketing collateral and state government assignments. Clients have hired her to draft business plans and write grant applications; define marketing strategies and create communications plans; write and build websites, blogs, newsletters and marketing collateral; and help sell skyscraper investments.
