People skittish about the state of the real estate market or whose credit was left in tatters after the economy tanked are increasingly foregoing buying a home in favor of renting.

So it’s probably not surprising that rent across the US is rising accordingly, about six percent in the past year alone.

It’s even worse in cities like San Francisco, Miami, Denver, Houston and Seattle, where rent has gone up between nine and 10 percent.

In fact, according to real estate site Trulia, rents have gone down in only one of the 25 largest markets in the US: Las Vegas, where developers overbuilt during the boom.

While it was initially younger Americans who decided home ownership wasn’t currently in their best interests, single families with older kids still living at home now comprise a larger share of renters — and they’ve typically been the ones most likely to buy.

So who’s benefiting from the rental spike? Landlords, of course, but also investors looking to become landlords. Last year, the number of homes bought for investment purposes rose 65 percent and accounted for more than a quarter of all residential real estate transactions.

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