Multifamily Developers Favor Downtown, But Suburbia Holds Its Own via National Real Estate Investor

In the midst of the Great Recession, vacancy in the multifamily sector hit a cyclical high of 8.0 percent. Over the next several years, the vacancy rate nearly halved, reaching 4.1 percent in early 2014. Vacancy now stands at 4.2 percent as of the end of the first quarter, where it has plateaued for 12 straight months.

What these figures don’t reveal is whether a disparity exists between the urban and suburban market segments. So we aim to dissect these headline figures in order to answer some very specific questions, in particular, how has the recovery affected multifamily properties in suburban areas versus those found in urban neighborhoods? Have both subsets of properties shared equally in the recovery and subsequent expansion? And perhaps most importantly, how will the influx of new supply influence market fundamentals in each category?

Read more...Multifamily Developers Favor Downtown, But Suburbia Holds Its Own | Commentary content from National Real Estate Investor