America’s torrid love affair with homeownership has ended.

Even some with high-paying jobs are leaving their homes and letting them slide into foreclosure when they owe more than their property is worth.

For those people, buying another home isn’t an option, at least not in the immediate future. So what can they do?

They can rent.

Miramonte Homes, a Tucson-based builder, will soon unveil a new line of luxury rental homes in Tucson and Sierra Vista to fill just that niche, said Steve Quinlan, the company’s co-CEO.

“We’re trying to take care of a demand that appears to be coming to the marketplace – people who are abandoning houses,” Quinlan said.

Miramonte’s luxury rentals, which will have rates around $1,500 to $1,800 per month, should be available in Sierra Vista in January. In Tucson, they won’t be ready until next summer, he said.

Quinlan couldn’t get too specific about the location in Tucson as the property sale is still being finalized. He did say they’ll be on the north side not too far from the core of the city.

Both projects will have about 90 units, he said.

Miramonte also plans to open luxury rental properties in Flagstaff.

The units will boast many features of single-family residences: two-car garages, entry foyers with high ceilings, and private backyards. The two-story structures will be in duplexes, triplexes and four-plexes, Quinlan said.

The largest models in Tucson will have four bedrooms.

Miramonte is specifically targeting homeowners who choose strategic default. That’s the process by which people who can afford their mortgage stop paying because their property is “underwater,” or worth less than what’s owed on the debt. Sometimes a lot less.

Many such homeowners, especially in places where home values spiked sharply and crashed, will have to wait decades for their house to be worth what they paid.

As such, Miramonte is potentially tapping into a wide swath of the housing market. Marshall Vest, a University of Arizona economist, said recently that half of Arizona homeowners are “underwater” on their mortgages.

Quinlan said Miramonte will use MEB Management to handle day-to-day operations at the rental units. They will require a credit check for tenants, though Quinlan acknowledged strategic default can put a blemish on a potential renter’s credit.

“When it’s such a large population of people, it was probably the economy’s fault, so they’re not really a credit risk,” Quinlan said. “If they’re not making a car payment, then it’s a bigger issue.”

Real estate brokers who track the rental market said there’s room for the luxury properties in Tucson.

“There’s probably enough of those people who are disenchanted with homeownership but want to have a home environment,” said Justin Lanne, a senior vice president with Grubb & Ellis, a commercial brokerage.

With about 100 rental units, Miramonte won’t flood the luxury market with inventory, he said.

Mike Chapman, a first vice president with CB Richard Ellis, said Tucson never had high enough rental rates to attract a significant number of luxury rental properties. So the market can handle more units, he said.

“If you come into town, and you’ve got decent employment, you look around and all of a sudden you realize, there really is no place to rent in Tucson,” Chapman said.

In large metropolitan areas, there’s a growing population of professionals who never buy real estate, he said. Those people still want to have a high-quality product available to them, and that doesn’t always come by renting a house or settling into a large apartment complex.

As for the stigma that renters don’t settle into their community and don’t care as much about the property, that’s changing, Chapman said.

After all, renters still work in town and, if they have children, their kids go to local schools. Basically, the care of a rental unit increases with income level and education, Chapman said.

Renters also don’t carry the stress of watching home values rise and fall, Lanne said. For them, a home is a place to live more than an investment. “When you have a more carefree attitude, you can enjoy it more,” Lanne said.

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