“Aren’t there more people who are losing their house(in Sandiego), and HAVE to rent because they now can’t qualify/afford a new house then are people who are moving from renters to owners?”
every house that is ‘lost’ becomes one more vacant house to be sold or rented
there could be a time lag between the ‘loss’ and the property becoming a rental (foreclosure / REO process)
as stated by another poster, when the economy contracts people move back in with their family, the kids don’t move out, people double up in apartments, etc – ie, population per housing unit increases – this means fewer housing units are needed which means more surplus housing units which means rents and housing prices continue in their downward spiral
