As the economy continues to recover from the last decade’s housing crash, new trends are taking shape in the housing market. For anyone considering purchasing a house or moving to a new apartment, it pays to keep track of larger economic patterns. Checkmate Moving and Storage, professional movers based in Highlands Ranch, Colorado, always wants to help their customers make wise decisions—which is why they help break down the latest market trends.

Major Housing Trends For 2016

The Homeownership Decline Is Slowing

Rates of homeownership in the U.S. have been in a decade-long decline, as the foreclosure crisis drove many homeowners out of the market while tight credit has limited new homeowners’ access. Recent trends indicate a leveling off to come, though some economic factors affecting millenials—namely a continued decline in income for 18-to-25-year-olds and the increasing influence of burgeoning student debt—will continue to slow housing recovery.

Home Prices Are Recovering

Despite these downward pressures, home prices have continued to recover at a modest rate. Nominal home prices are now within a few percentage points on average of their peak in the years before the crash, although real prices (adjusted for inflation) remain roughly 20% below. The recovery in nominal price is meaningful, however—it helps to reduce the number of home mortgages in serious danger of foreclosure.

The Rental Market Remains Strong

More than 36% of U.S. households rented in 2015, the highest rate in nearly five decades. With demand for rental housing on a continued upswing, the vacancy rate has fallen each of the past five years, helping to drive rental prices steadily upward. While earlier trends saw many older single-family homes converted to rental units to meet this demand, new construction of multi-family units is an increasing factor in rental supply.

Renters Are Spending More Of Their Income On Housing

One old rule of thumb held that households should spend roughly 25% of their income on housing. Increasingly, this doesn’t apply to modern renters. The number of households paying more than 30% of their income in rent rose significantly between 2008 and 2014, while the number paying more than 50% shockingly increased fivefold. These overwhelming cost burdens currently fall disproportionately on low-income households, though the pattern is increasingly spreading to other demographic groups, especially in the more expensive coastal markets.

Apartments Are Shrinking While Houses Grow Larger

The median square footage for a unit in a multi-family apartment has shrunk by roughly 10% since 2007, from nearly 1,200 square feet to 1,074. Meanwhile, the median size of a newly built home increased to an unprecedented 2,467 square feet.

If you’re moving, there are a lot of factors you need to consider, including getting the best deal from your local movers. If you’re considering a move in the Denver area, look to the professionals at Checkmate Moving and Storage. Whether you’re moving into a giant, newly built home or want a storage unit to reduce clutter in your apartment, Checkmate will help. Call (303) 346-6683 for a quote, or visit the movers’ website to find out more. For more information on current housing trends in the U.S., read the full “State of the Nation’s Housing” report here.