Special Report: ‘Capital is Constrained’ Says NMHC Apartment Strategies Panel via MHNonline.com

n Part 2 of MHN’s Special Report from the NMHC Annual Meeting, the industry opines on the availability of infill sites, the dangers of overbuilding and opportunities in tertiary markets. Click here for Part 1 “Special Report: What’s Next for the Apartment Recovery?”

Boca Raton, Fla.—As attitudes towards homeownership continue to change, multi-housing is poised for another good year. “It’s not only OK to live in an apartment, it’s smart to do so. It’s the preferred type of home for a growing segment of the society,” said Tom Bozzuto, CEO, The Bozzuto Group, to industry colleagues at the 2012 National Multi Housing Council annual meeting.

“We can debate whether this [preference] will last for more than a few years. [But] my principal focus as NMHC Chairman will be to push for a balanced housing policy [that ensures] renters are not the subject of economic discrimination as they have been for the past quarter century. It’s incumbent on us to create awareness that rental housing, by its nature, is an important component of affordable housing.”

For many Americans, apartment living is fundamentally a lifestyle choice. But there are other factors at play. College debt is on the rise and making it harder to save and make the jump from renting to homeownership. The days of Mom and Dad gifting a portion of the down payment for a house are over for many young Americans, because their parents’ nest egg took a hit in the stock market… or perhaps Mom and Dad are unemployed.

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