Economy Watch: Apartment Supply, Rents Will Continue to Grow in 2017 via Multi-Housing News Online

Apartments nationwide will enjoy a reasonably strong year in 2017, buoyed by continued employment growth (a rise of more than 2.7 million jobs, or 1.9 percent), Berkadia predicated in its 2017 Market Forecast. The company estimates vacancies nationwide will edge down 20 basis points to 5.1 percent, even as more than 320,600 new units are put on the market.

Read more...Economy Watch: Apartment Supply, Rents Will Continue to Grow in 2017

17 Simple Property Management Steps for a Better ’17 via Multi-Housing News Online

New Year, new you, right? Um, no. New Years resolutions are pretty much a sucker’s bet. It’s why gym membership spikes in January and then flatlines in February, and why you’re most definitely not going to finish Moby Dick (that, and there are far too few explosions and sexy strangers with secret pasts in that book. At least, there weren’t any in the Cliff’s Notes version I read in college. Maybe in the director’s cut?). Big changes are just too hard to stick to.

Little changes, though. Little changes are easier.

Here are 17 simple steps you can take in 2017 to be a better property manager and to enhance your community.

Read more...17 Simple Property Management Steps for a Better ’17

Affordability Crisis | The Balance Sheet via Yardi Corporate Blog

Like the infamous “blue screen of death,” the Urban Institute’s map of affordable housing inventory is terrifying to behold. A handful of dark blue swatches in Midwest represent healthy levels of affordable housing inventory. The rest of the country, on the other hand, sits awash in the lightest indigo hues. From barely perceptible azure to the palest cerulean, a majority of states contain less than 50 units per 100 extremely low-income households. More than a third sit at, or close, to zero.

Read more...Affordability Crisis | The Balance Sheet - Yardi Corporate Blog

Apartment forecasters see smaller rent increases ahead via Dallas News

Dallas-Fort Worth apartment rents grew at almost twice the national average in the fourth quarter, according to a new report by Axiometrics Inc.

Dallas-area rents were up 4.3 percent from fourth quarter 2015 and Fort Worth rents rose 5.7 percent, according to the apartment analyst.

At the same time national apartment rents increased by 2.4 percent in the final months of the year.

Read more...Apartment forecasters see smaller rent increases ahead | Real Estate | Dallas News

U.S. population growth is lower than at any time since the Great Depression via The Washington Post

Last year the United States had the lowest rate of population growth of any year since the Great Depression, according to census figures released Tuesday.

The milestone is due largely to the aging of the population, with more deaths last year than at any time since 2000, according to William Frey, a demographer and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.

The nation grew by 0.695 percent between 2015 and 2016 to 323.1 million, down from 0.732 percent the previous year — the lowest increase since 1937-1938, when it was 0.60 percent.

Read more...U.S. population growth is lower than at any time since the Great Depression - The Washington Post

The Legal Guide To Effective Tenant Screening via Multifamily Blogs

With just 23,000,000 landlords serving over 110,000 renters in the United States, one thing is clear- the rental market is doing really well. As a matter of fact, there are more than 2600 new renters every day. Going by these figures, you’re pretty much guaranteed to receive tons of tenancy applications for a good, strategically priced piece of property. Unfortunately, this presents a challenge, combing through all the applications to weed out the ne’er do wells. Of course no one would want to deal with a troublesome tenant, right?

Read more...The Legal Guide To Effective Tenant Screening - Multifamily Blogs

Apartment Market Faces Supply Challenges, Amid Growing Demand via Multi-Housing News Online

Demand for apartments doesn’t show any signs of slowing down—but it’s become a challenge for many developers and investors as development costs rise. Supply is having a hard time keeping up with demand already—and that’s not likely to change any time soon.

National demand for apartments has been growing for several years and new units have been absorbed as quickly as they have become available. Vacancy rates are near historic lows and rents continue to rise. Based on demographic and economic data, we can expect to see even greater demand for apartments in the next couple of years.

Read more...Apartment Market Faces Supply Challenges, Amid Growing Demand

Can You Afford an Apartment? Dallas Rent Growth Slows, But Values Still Exist in the Suburbs via CandysDirt.com

There’s a serious shortage of affordable rentals in Dallas, but some data shows that prices are dropping. That’s good news considering that wages, when compared to housing costs, are creating a gap in affordability that is causing a whole swath of renters to become “cost burdened.”

“Dallas, specifically, ranks No. 47 when it comes to cost burdened renters, with 47 percent of the local renters spending at least 30 percent of their income on rent,” said Sam Radbil of Abodo. “Outside of Dallas, when looking at the data on a national level, the study revealed that almost half of the top 20 cities with the most cost burdened renters are located in California.”

Read more...Can You Afford an Apartment? Dallas Rent Growth Slows, But Values Still Exist in the Suburbs - CandysDirt.com

Not so a-Lone Star State: Why Texas adds almost 1,200 residents per day via Dallas News

Over the last year, Texas added 432,957 new residents, pushing the Lone Star State’s population to almost 28 million, U.S. Census Bureau data released this week shows.

That amounts to about 1,183 new Texans each day and the biggest population jump of any state in the country.

Florida was next, adding 367,525 residents from July 2015 to July 2016, followed by California, which added 256,077 people.

Read more...Not so a-Lone Star State: Why Texas adds almost 1,200 residents per day | Demographics | Dallas News

Apartment Building Buyers Unmoved by Interest Rate Hike via National Real Estate Investor

Interest rates are finally rising, but that doesn’t mean cap rates on apartment properties have to rise too.

“This interest rate increase could be a non-event on cap rates,” says James Costello, senior vice president for New York City-based research firm Real Capital Analytics (RCA).

It’s easy to assume that higher interest rates will naturally lead buyers of apartment properties to demand higher yields on their investments. But investor yields and interest rate often move in different directions.

Read more...Apartment Building Buyers Unmoved by Interest Rate Hike

Houston Apartment Rents Dropped Almost 4 Percent in Last Year via Realty News Report

Houston apartment rents dropped 3.7 percent in November from November of 2015, according to a new report by Axiometrics, a multifamily data firm.

Houston, which has an overbuilt apartment market, had an average monthly apartment rent of $1,053, down from $1,094 a year ago. By comparison, the national average rent is $1,278, Axiometrics reports.

The oversupply of apartments has been concentrated in the upscale Class A market, while vacancy is tight in the Class B and C sectors.

Read more...Houston Apartment Rents Dropped Almost 4 Percent in Last Year | Realty News Report

In Brief: U.S. Renters Have Higher Credit Scores, More Access to Debt via Urban Land Magazine

According to a report from American credit bureau TransUnion, U.S. renters, as a group, are getting older, but they also have better credit scores and greater access to debt than previously. The study analyzed the credit behavior of 631,000 renters who moved during the second quarter of 2015 over the 12 months following their moves with a similar group who moved during the second quarter of 2009. Here are a few of the findings:

Read more...In Brief: U.S. Renters Have Higher Credit Scores, More Access to Debt - Urban Land Magazine

Texas Economy Positioned to Improve in 2017 via Dallas Fed

The Texas economy continues to expand at a moderate pace, with payroll employment growing at a 2.1 percent annualized pace in the second half of the year versus the lackluster 0.8 percent rate in the first half. October job growth was subdued, but September data were revised up. The Texas Business Outlook Surveys (TBOS) point to stronger growth in both manufacturing and services in November. The Texas Employment Forecast suggests that job growth for the year will be 1.5 percent (December/December) and that growth next year will be close to the state’s long-term trend rate of 2.1 percent.

Read more...Texas Economy Positioned to Improve in 2017 - Dallas Fed

ALN Monthly Newsletter December 2016 via ALN Apartment Data

ALN Data just released their November 2016 stats on occupancy and rents for over 80 markets. In Texas, it includes DFW, Austin, Houston, San Antonio, Lubbock, Amarillo, Abilene, Corpus Christi and more. It is a must read from a great provider of apartment data.

Read more...ALN Monthly Newsletter December 2016 via ALN Apartment Data

Multifamily Financing: 3 Things to Know for 2017 via Multi-Housing News Online

As 2016 draws to a close, multifamily investors, owners and developers are watching fundamentals and politics carefully to assess what’s to come in the year ahead.

There are certainly shifts on the horizon in terms of financing. With that in mind, below are three factors to keep in mind when seeking financing for multifamily product in the year ahead.

Read more...Multifamily Financing: 3 Things to Know for 2017

Yardi: National Average Rent Continues Falling as Growth Moderates via Multifamily Executive Magazine

The national average apartment rent fell by $3 in October to $1,216 from $1,219, three times the amount it fell last month, according to the Matrix Monthly report by Yardi Matrix. This is the second average apartment rent decrease since November 2015 and the steepest month-over-month drop since October 2013. However, rents grew by 4.4% on a year-over-year basis in October, down 30 basis points (bps) from September’s year-over-year growth but up 230 bps from October 2015.

Yardi attributes the deceleration in the national average rent not to a market slowdown but to a moderation of 2015's and early 2016’s high growth in many metros.

Read more...Yardi: National Average Rent Continues Falling as Growth Moderates | Multifamily Executive Magazine

Lenders Growing Wary of Multifamily Construction Loans via Multifamily Executive Magazine

As the new-apartment unit leasing rate slows, multifamily investors and lenders are concerned the market may be passing its peak, according to National Mortgage News. Lenders are growing more cautious with their investment money, which may contribute to a slowdown in this cycle’s multifamily construction boom.

Read more...Lenders Growing Wary of Multifamily Construction Loans | Multifamily Executive Magazine

Apartment Vacancy Rate Stays Low, Surprising Researchers via National Real Estate Investor

Experts warned that hundreds of thousands of new apartments would open in 2016 and drive up the vacancy in the sector. But for most of this year, average vacancy rates stayed low.

“The market has proved to be incredibly resilient,” says John Sebree, first vice president and national director of the national multi housing group at brokerage firm Marcus & Millichap “The apartment business is far more positive and far stronger than we expected to be at the beginning of 2016.”

Read more...Apartment Vacancy Rate Stays Low, Surprising Researchers

Top Markets for Expected Deliveries in 2017 via Multifamily Executive Magazine

he industry’s comeback after the Great Recession has set new records for development and rent growth, but it appears some development markets are finally moderating. The past year saw 337,000 units arrive to the market, on top of the 267,000 units delivered in 2015. For the coming year, things will temper (even if just a bit) with an expected 272,000 deliveries, according to MPF Research, the analytics arm of RealPage.

A more stringent construction debt market will also curb the delivery of new apartments into the future. John Gray is head of investments for Lennar Multifamily Communities (LMC), which started 4,565 units in 2015 ranking fifth on the NMHC’s list of largest apartment builders, says its production will drop 30% to 35% in the next year. And, he expects other major apartment builders to see similar decreases. “Everybody is anticipating starting between 50% to 65% as many units in 2017 as they did in 2016,” he says.

Read more...Top Markets for Expected Deliveries in 2017 | Multifamily Executive Magazine

Austin Economic Indicators December 2016 via Dallas Fed

The Austin economy continued to grow modestly in October. While still in positive territory, the Austin Business Cycle Index decelerated again and remains well below its long-term average. Net job growth was flat, while the unemployment rate declined slightly.

Read more...Austin Economic Indicators December 2016 via Dallas Fed

Rental Gap Widens Between A and C Product via GlobeSt.com

cross the 100 largest metro areas in the US, the asking rent gap between the top end and the bottom layer of the apartment market has widened to the point where it’s essentially doubled, RealPage Inc. chief economist Greg Willett blogged earlier this month. Specifically, Willett wrote, “the most expensive class A product now rents for $1,663 per month on average, basically double the average $850 monthly rents for the lower priced class C properties.”

The gap is even greater on both coasts, and most especially in the Northeast. Boston’s class A rentals ask an average of $3,148 per month, nearly triple the $1,1168 average for C product.

Read more...Rental Gap Widens Between A and C Product | GlobeSt.com