Multifamily Deals Are Getting Harder to Pencil via GlobeSt

“How are you navigating current market conditions,” asked Mark Renard, executive vice chairman of the capital markets group at Cushman & Wakefield, at the opening of the Transaction Talks: The Art of Multifamily Dealmaking panel at RealShare Apartments this week. For some of the panelists, the response was that the market is challenging today—and it is getting more challenging—but there are still reasons to be excited about the multifamily market, including growing demand and class-B and secondary market rent growth.

Read more...Multifamily Deals Are Getting Harder to Pencil via GlobeSt

Big D is second only to the Big Apple in new building projects via Dallas News

A slowdown in commercial building this year hasn't been enough to knock Dallas-Fort Worth off its perch as one of the country's top commercial building markets.

Construction has started on more than $17 billion in D-FW area commercial and residential projects in the first nine months of 2018. Only New York City with $31.7 billion in construction starts has seen more building activity so far this year, according to the latest figures from Dodge Data & Analytics.

Read more...Big D is second only to the Big Apple in new building projects via Dallas News

Dallas-Fort Worth Economic Indicators October 24, 2018 via Dallas Fed

Dallas–Fort Worth economic growth moderated in September. Payroll employment expanded at a slower pace in the third quarter than the second. Unemployment held steady near record lows, and the Dallas and Fort Worth business-cycle indexes expanded further. Housing market indicators suggest a cooling in home price appreciation and sales; however, inventory still remains tight, particularly at the lower price points.

Read more...Dallas-Fort Worth Economic Indicators October 24, 2018 via Dallas Fed

Eleventh District Beige Book October 24, 2018 via Dallas Fed

Solid expansion continued in the Eleventh District economy. Manufacturing output increased robustly, although demand growth slowed from last period. Healthy growth continued in retail and nonfinancial services. Loan demand and volumes increased further, as did loan pricing. Home sales were flat to up over the past six weeks. Drilling activity was flat as limited pipeline and transportation capacity inhibited growth. Employment increased, and widespread labor shortages continued to pressure wages and even restrain business growth in some sectors. Price pressures stayed elevated, partly due to tariffs driving up input costs. Outlooks remained optimistic despite increased uncertainty stemming from trade disputes, rising interest rates, and labor constraints.

Read more...Eleventh District Beige Book October 24, 2018 via Dallas Fed

Texas Employment Forecast October 19, 2018 via Dallas Fed

Incorporating September employment growth of 1.7 percent and moderate growth in the Texas Leading index, the Texas Employment Forecast suggests jobs will grow 2.7 percent this year (December/December), with an 80 percent confidence band of 2.2 to 3.2 percent. Based on the forecast, 336,300 jobs will be added in the state this year, and employment in December 2018 will be 12.7 million.

Read more...Texas Employment Forecast October 19, 2018 via Dallas Fed

ALN Monthly Market Stats October 2018 via ALN Apartment Data

ALN Data just released their September 2018 market 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. Check out their new website.

Read more...ALN Monthly Market Stats October 2018 via ALN Apartment Data

Existing home sales fall for sixth straight month in September via CNBC

U.S. home sales fell in September by the most in over two years as the housing market continued to struggle despite strength across the broader economy.

The National Association of Realtors said on Friday that existing home sales dropped 3.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.15 million units last month.

Read more...Existing home sales fall for sixth straight month in September via CNBC

Apartment Permits in U.S. Hit Two-Year Low on Glut, Rising Costs via NREI

It looks like U.S. apartment and condominium builders are reacting to rising costs and a supply glut the same way: slowing down.

Multifamily housing permits -- - those for buildings with two or more units -- dropped last month to the lowest level since March 2016, government figures showed Wednesday. That follows signs of an oversupply of apartments in some U.S. markets, but higher costs are also having an impact.

Read more...Apartment Permits in U.S. Hit Two-Year Low on Glut, Rising Costs via NREI

Apartment Rentals Now Make Up a Larger Share of New Housing Units in the U.S. Than They Have in Decades via NREI

Apartment rentals have been luring residents away from other kinds of housing since the housing crash—and that is not likely to change in the foreseeable future.

“Apartments should continue to play a role in the total housing market that goes beyond the historical norm,” says Greg Willett, chief economist for Real Page Inc., a property management software and services provider based in Richardson, Texas.

In the years after the Great Recession, millions of people lost homes to foreclosure and had to move, often into apartments.

Read more...Apartment Rentals Now Make Up a Larger Share of New Housing Units in the U.S. Than They Have in Decades via NREI

The U.S. Cities Most Flooded with High-End Apartments via NREI

New data from RentCafe shows that more than 25 percent of apartment buildings in some U.S. cities are now high-end units.

Visit any urban center in a major U.S. city and you'll see a similar view: cranes dotting the landscape and billboards advertising units in the latest luxury apartment projects. Has the focus on high-end units gotten out of hand?

New research from RentCafe found that luxury rental properties had accounted for 79 percent of all apartment construction in the U.S. And in the 2018 that number has grown to a whopping 87 percent. In many cities, a full 100 percent of projects completed in the first half of the year were upscale units.

Read more...The U.S. Cities Most Flooded with High-End Apartments via NREI

Dallas-Fort Worth tops ranking of best real estate markets for 2019 via Dallas News

Dallas-Fort Worth tops the list of U.S. cities that real estate industry execs say will be the best for their business in 2019.

D-FW has been rated the highest for property investment and construction in a closely watched real estate beauty contest — the annual Emerging Trends in Real Estate report, which polled industry leaders on their outlook for 79 U.S. cities. The last time D-FW topped the list was in 2015, in the report looking ahead to 2016.

Read more... Dallas-Fort Worth tops ranking of best real estate markets for 2019 via Dallas News

Apartment Rent Growth Accelerates in the Third Quarter of 2018 via National Real Estate Investor

“The apartment market’s performance during the third quarter slightly surpassed expectations,” according to Greg Willett, chief economist for RealPage Inc., a provider of property management software and services.

Demand for apartment units softened slightly in recent years, as developers built thousands of new apartments. Now, demand is growing quickly once again, as the number of new households rises quickly and helps fill new units. This improved outlook comes after years of already strong rent growth and low vacancy rates.

Read more...Apartment Rent Growth Accelerates in the Third Quarter of 2018 | National Real Estate Investor

Rapid Growth Puts Pressure on Filling Multifamily Demand via GlobeSt

Multifamily development in DFW has been especially robust during the last few years to accommodate the ongoing growth of 100,000-plus jobs each year. The number of apartments under development has drifted higher as the affordable homebuilding market has struggled to deliver product, according to a JLL research report on multifamily development in North Texas.

“Quite simply, we’ve been growing so fast it is difficult to meet new housing demand from that sector, given rising land and construction costs, especially at relatively close-in locations where the jobs are being created,” says Jorg Mast, senior vice president, JLL Capital Markets.

Read more...Rapid Growth Puts Pressure on Filling Multifamily Demand via GlobeSt

Texas Economic Indicators October 3, 2018 via Dallas Fed

The regional economy continues to post strong growth and outpace the nation. Year to date, Texas employment growth is an annualized 3 percent, well above the U.S. growth of 1.7 percent. Regional activity is also expanding rapidly, with the September readings of the Dallas Fed Texas Business Outlook Surveys (TBOS) remaining near multiyear highs for production and revenue. Moreover, Texas personal income growth in the second quarter was the highest in the nation at 6 percent, which bodes well for second-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) growth (available on Nov. 14). First-quarter real GDP, the most recent GDP data available at the state level, shows the Texas economy grew an annualized 2.9 percent quarter over quarter compared with 2.2 percent for the nation.

Read more...Texas Economic Indicators - Dallasfed.org

Houston Economic Indicators October 1, 2018 via Dallas Fed

Houston’s economy continues to grow at a healthy pace despite signs of a slowdown in its core energy-related sectors. Employment and business-cycle indicators are increasing, and loan growth at Houston-based banks continues to outperform the nation. Overall, the outlook remains positive.

Read more... Houston Economic Indicators via dallasfed.org

Austin Economic Indicators October 4, 2018 - Dallas Fed

Austin economic growth was moderate in August. The Austin Business-Cycle Index stabilized but was below its long-term trend. Job growth rebounded after a sharp drop in July, while the unemployment rate ticked up slightly. Recently released gross domestic product (GDP) data for 2017 show a significant expansion in Austin metro output.

Read more...Austin Economic Indicators October 2018 - Dallasfed.org

Multifamily Investors Continue to Accept Low Cap Rates, But for How Long? via NREI

Experts keep waiting for the yield to rise on multifamily investments.

At conferences, leading investors and industry analysts repeat the same question: “Are interest rates going to go up any more and will capitalization rates respond?” says Jim Costello, senior vice president with research firm Real Capital Analytics (RCA), who is currently making the rounds of the fall apartment conferences, most recently at the Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate (AFIRE), held in September in Ellicott City, Md.

Benchmark interest rates have already risen more than half a percentage point in the last year—and they seem to be rising further this fall. But cap rates for apartment properties seem frozen in place.

Read more...Multifamily Investors Continue to Accept Low Cap Rates, But for How Long? via NREI

RealPage: Multifamily performance remains strong in Q3, elevated supply worries remain via HousingWire

U.S. rent growth increased to 2.9% in the third quarter this year, up from last quarter’s 2.5%.

According to RealPage’s Q3 report, this is the result of unusually strong demand this quarter.

“Momentum in the apartment market’s performance during the third quarter slightly surpassed expectations,” RealPage Chief Economist Greg Willett said in the report.

Read more...RealPage: Multifamily performance remains strong in Q3, elevated supply worries remain via HousingWire