Ninorah Brookshire and her family moved from the suburbs to New York city two months ago so that her husband, Edward, could end his hour-long commutes. Their home in the upscale seaside town, Rowayton, Connecticut wasn't selling so they decided to put it up for rent. Ninorah Brookshire, homeowner said, "We put the house on the market in January and we thought oh max six months you don't need more than that...there was just one peck at it and nothing. Nothing." In the face of a challenging housing market, homeowners like the Brookshires are increasingly turning to renting their homes in place of or in addition to trying to sell them. Jeff Kelly, principal of Kelly Real Estate, based in Rowayton's sister town, Darien, says it's a fast growing trend, even for locations like this where, until now, homes were easy to sell. Jeff Kelly, Principal, Kelly Associates, said "We're doing 30 to 40 percent more rental transactions in Darien. And the really interesting part of that is most of those homes are, by anyone's memory, have never been for rent before." And the trend seems to be nationwide. Jonathan Miller, CEO of real estate appraisal firm Miller Samuel. Jonathan Miller said "It's the first time in my 25 years tracking housing markets that I've seen such strength on the rental side when the economy is generally weak." Analysts cite negative equity, high unemployment, and hard-to-get loans as the main factors driving this surprising surge in single family home rentals. Jeff Kelly said, "I think this is what we're going to be dealing with a s a new normal. I don't see a quick correction coming in any way, shape or form." Certainly not news that Ninorah and other homeowners, who've turned to the rental market, want to hear. ◆ 追蹤更多華視影音及圖文新聞: 1.用Plurk追蹤華視影音及圖文新聞:追蹤 2.用Twitter追蹤華視影音及圖文新聞:追蹤
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