Exclusive | Why millionaires are choosing to rent a home rather than buy: Really, really enjoying it

The number of millionaires opting to rent a home rather than buy one has soared — signaling a shift in how the wealthy think about investing in real estate. Between 2019 and 2023, the population of millionaire renters in the US more than tripled, reaching 13,692, according to RentCafe. While most in this deep-pocketed class still own — the tally of millionaire homeowners topped 143,000 last year – the surge in luxury leases suggests that liquidity and flexibility are trumping the pride of ownership.The pandemic years coincided with the sharpest gains, especially in low-tax Southern metros such as Houston, Dallas, Miami and Atlanta.Large coastal cities, however, still dominate. New York counted 5,661 millionaire renters in 2023, up from 2,204 four years earlier.

San Francisco ballooned from 321 to 1,411 in the same period.“They’re choosing flexibility and liquidity over ownership,” Glen Stegemann, a broker with The Agency in Miramar Beach, Florida, told the New York Times.“They don’t want to be bothered with the inconveniences of homeownership, which includes paying real estate taxes and insurance, especially in markets like Florida and California, where we’re seeing a lot of natural catastrophes.”Douglas Elliman’s Keyan Sanai, who represents a $35,000-a-month Turtle Bay penthouse, said high-end tenants often rely on financial logic, not sentiment. “Typically speaking, wealthy people are either smart or have very smart advisors,” he told The Post.“Why wouldn’t someone who has the disposable income, who can probably find some sort of home office loophole to write off at least a part of it, rent here for $30,000, keep a primary residence elsewhere and then have no liability?” he added.“For example, if the fridge broke, the building has to fix it.

If the dishwasher leaks, call the super.It’s not on you.”He said insurance has become prohibitive in disaster-prone states. “A year before those horrible wildfires happened, Wa...