The number of higher-income millennials who are renting instead of buying a home is on the rise, according to RentCafe. The share of applications for apartments from renters who earn more than $50,000 is at its highest level in five years, 39 percent, as many would-be homebuyers were priced out of an overly competitive real estate market in 2021.

Renting continues to be the go-to option in 2021 for a growing number of people with incomes that might allow them to purchase homes. According to RentCafe’s recent analysis of rental application data, as many as 39 percent of applicants in 2021 had individual incomes of more than $50,000 — up from 32 percent five years before.

Andrea Zander is web content editor of Institutional Real Estate, Inc.