Steve Niebuhr, who oversees Hubbell Realty Co.’s construction and development arm, said the rental market should stay strong for at least another five years.

“Financing for home purchases is just not very easy, and we don’t see it getting any easier for the next five years,” he said.

On the other hand, occupancy of Hubbell’s 2,000 units of rental housing has been at 96 percent or above.

“That’s the best you could hope for as a landlord,” Niebuhr said.

Underwriting standards might be too stringent, he said, but there is another factor driving the rental market.

“The latest generation of young people are not as enamored with home ownership. The renting gives them that momentum to go chase their career,” Niebuhr said.

Hubbell and other developers are ready to accommodate them.

The company is preparing the second phase of the Melbourne Apartments on Southeast 14th Street in Des Moines. The first phase is leased. It is building 120 one- to three-bedroom apartments at Meadowlark Place in Grimes. Cedarbrooke Place opened in February in Norwalk, bringing 60 units on the market. The Cottages at Johnston Commons in Johnston was 66 percent leased when the senior living community opened in January.

And it doesn’t end there. Hubbell is converting condominium units at Fox Prairie in West Des Moines into 35 rental units. It has opened the Riverpoint Lofts apartment building downtown and hopes to have Rocket Transfer Lofts, also downtown, ready to rent later this year.

The company is considering an assisted living center as well as a mixed-use project in the Gray’s Landing area that could have commercial tenants on the first floor, topped with market-rate apartments.