With all the growth the multifamily industry has seen in the last few years, it was inevitable that we’d eventually see the trend move out from the downtown, urban neighborhoods and onto the wide open hustle of suburban America.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the shift in demographics from urban to suburban can be seen in the data being collected. Even with multifamily housing being the cornerstone of the current housing market and the fact that a majority of these projects are urban-based, census data is still leaning towards increasing growth in the suburban markets. (Note: for now, this growth can only be considered a small uptick in the suburban markets and is also accompanied by a small downtick in the relative urban markets which makes the shift more apparent.)

As a matter of fact, the Brookings Institution reported that in some U.S. cities, we have actually seen more of this type of growth in the last three years than we did in all of the last ten years. For cities with a population of a quarter million or more, this growth is above average and can be as much as one percent or more.

With this migration taking place, it’s not just the multifamily rentals that are seeing growth. The abundance of single-family homes left over from the pre-recession boom that was then vacated by the recession itself has since led to opportunities for investors looking to capitalize.

Unfortunately, the purchasing, renovating, and renting out of a single unit does little to create jobs and instead offers would-be renters all the problems associated with owning in large suburban development, but none of the benefits.

Despite these renters who rent for the flexibility or because of inability to purchase, expect in the next several years to see continued growth and additional balance come to these transforming suburban communities as the Gen X-Y’ers look to form families and the recent millenial college graduates begin to branch out on their own to form new households.