4Q Rent Numbers Soften, Outlook for 2012 Bullish - MultifamilyBiz.com

Axiometrics Inc., a provider of data and analysis on the apartment market, reports that national effective rent growth was lower than expected during November, with effective rents declining 0.47% between October and November. This marked the lowest sequential growth rate of any month for the past two years. Year-to-date effective rent growth now stands at 4.37%.
The national occupancy rate declined 17 basis points (bp), from 93.82% in October to 93.65% in November. As with effective rents, the decline appears to be typical for the season and compares favorably to the 14 bp decline in November of 2010. Overall, occupancy is up 54 basis points year-to-date.
“The national growth numbers, particularly on the rent side, were more negative than expected, but the fourth quarter should finish stronger than what we’ve typically seen over the past decade,” said Ron Johnsey, president of Axiometrics Inc. “Strong renter household formation and the declining homeownership rate will continue to benefit the apartment market, and will help contribute to our forecasted effective rent growth of 5.5% nationally for 2012.”

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