In its latest survey on renter satisfaction and goals, Freddie Mac found that tenants were more likely to be concerned about higher utility costs than rent increases. However, tenants in the Northeast were less likely to expect that a more efficient rental property would help with their financial situation.

While renters were split on whether they planned to buy or rent their next home, this divide showed no change from the previous year. Respondents were also more likely to rank a down payment lower than establishing an emergency fund or saving for a child's education when asked about their saving goals.

"We will continue to monitor the sentiment of renters closely, but for now it appears renter concerns about household finances and rising rents may be stimulating less interest in buying a home and more on renting one with cost-saving features," said David Brickman, executive vice president of Freddie Mac Multifamily.

Utilities and rent

The latest survey was the first to introduce questions about renter concerns regarding utility costs. Seventy percent said they were moderately or greatly concerned about how higher utility bills would affect their finances, while 63 percent were concerned about how rent increases could impact their budget.

However, respondents also said they expected rent increases to have a more significant effect on their finances. Forty-seven percent said a rent increase would have a great impact on their budget, compared to 38 percent who said higher utility costs would have the same effect.

Tenants were more likely to be concerned about rent increases if they had recently experienced a rent hike. Forty-six percent said their rent has gone up in the past two years, an increase from 40 percent in the October 2015 survey. Seventy percent of those who had experienced a rent hike said they were very or moderately concerned about another increase, while only 59 percent of those whose rent hadn't changed said they shared this concern.

Forty-eight percent of respondents said they considered finding a home with efficient water and energy features to be very or moderately important. Eighty-eight percent agreed that an efficient home would help lower their utility bills, and 84 percent said they considered green properties to generally be better places to live. However, only 47 percent said they would be willing to pay a higher rent for these benefits.

Tenants in the Northeast were least likely to place importance on finding an efficient home. Only 37 percent considered this quality to be very important, compared to 52 percent of renters in the South and West.

Finances

A significant number of renters said they are facing financial hardship. Twenty percent of respondents said they sometimes don't have enough money for basic expenses until their next paycheck arrives, up from 11 percent in October 2015. Forty-six percent said they live paycheck to paycheck. The share of respondents indicating that they have enough money to stretch beyond each payday shrank from 41 percent in October 2015 to 34 percent in the most recent survey.

Thirty-four percent said they have occasional difficulties with keeping their debt down, but felt they were making progress. However, 27 percent said they felt like they weren't making any progress in whittling down their debt burden. Twenty percent of renters said they are managing their debt without any setbacks, and 19 percent said they are debt-free.

Generation X renters—defined as ages 35 to 49—were most likely to struggle with debt. Thirty-four percent said they felt they weren't making progress, up from 24 percent in October 2015. Among Millennial renters, between the ages of 18 and 34, 27 percent said they felt they weren't making progress with their debt – a reduction from 32 percent in October 2015.

Renters in the Northeast were most likely to indicate financial stability, with 45 percent saying they earned enough to meet expenses beyond each payday. They were also most likely to be free of debt, with 27 percent saying they did not have to meet any outstanding costs. However, 26 percent indicated that they did not feel like they were making progress on paying down their debt.

Tenants in the West were most likely to say they were cost-burdened. Thirty-one percent said they didn't feel they were making progress with their debt, and one in four said they sometimes didn't have enough money to meet basic expenses until their next paycheck.

Nineteen percent of all renters said they had at least some fear of being evicted because they would no longer be able to afford their rent.

Homeownership

Despite these financial concerns, a larger share of tenants said they were satisfied with their living situation. Forty-four percent said they were very satisfied with their overall rental accommodations, up from 33 percent in January. Another 22 percent said they were moderately satisfied.

Forty-four percent of respondents said they planned to stay in their current residence, regardless of any changes to the rent. Fifty-nine percent said they were renting for financial reasons, while 31 percent said renting was a better fit for their lifestyle.

Fifty-five percent said they plan to rent their next residence, while 45 percent intended to buy. These shares were unchanged from previous surveys in January and October 2015. However, the share of tenants who considered renting to be more affordable than homeownership dropped to 65 percent, down from 69 percent in January.

Generation X tenants were most likely to look toward buying a home, with 58 percent saying they planned to purchase their next home. Forty-three percent of Millennials and 32 percent of Baby Boomers—ages 50 to 68—also said they planned to purchase their next home. Forty-four percent of Generation X tenants said they believed owning a home would be less expensive than renting, a view shared by only 34 percent of Millennials.

Among all tenants, saving for a down payment ranked lower than other saving goals. Forty-one percent placed high importance on saving up to buy a home. Renters were more likely to focus on building up an emergency fund (54 percent), saving for retirement (47 percent), or saving for a child's education (46 percent).

Generation X renters were most likely to focus on their children's education, with 59 percent naming this as an important savings goal. However, this generation was also most likely to save for a down payment, with 53 percent saying this was a priority. Forty-five percent of Millennials said saving for a down payment was important to them.

While only one in four Baby Boomer renters said they considered saving for a down payment to be an important goal of theirs, this generation was most likely to show progress if they were saving for this expense. Thirty-six percent said their down payment savings were where they wanted them to be, while 8 percent said they were farther along than they'd expected. Fifty-six percent said they were behind on saving for a down payment, compared to about three-quarters of Generation X and Millennial respondents.

Seventy percent of all respondents said they would like to buy a home, but can't afford to do so at this point. Forty-three percent said they have put off plans to buy a home, while 40 percent said they had started looking at homes.

"This new data confirms several ongoing trends found in our earlier research. Specifically, that satisfaction with renting is increasing among renters overall and that renters in their prime home buying years—Millennials and Gen Xers—see saving for education and other life goals as a higher priority than saving for a down payment," said Brickman. "This provides further evidence that the increased propensity to rent that we have seen over the past 10 years is both broad based and is likely to continue into the future."

Freddie Mac's survey was conducted online between Aug. 31 and Sept. 6. A total of 1,362 renters in the United States were queried.