WEEKLY
Mortgage Rate (30-Year Fixed): 6.02% (as of 9/15)
MONTHLY
Existing Home Sales: -5.9% (July 2022)
New Residential Sales: +12.6% (July 2022)
Median Sales Price for New Houses Sold: $439,400 (July 2022)
Construction Spending: 0.4% MoM (July 2022)
New Residential Housing Starts: 1.45 million (July 2022)
New Residential Housing Completion: 1.42 million (July 2022)
QUARTERLY
Homeownership Rate: +65.4% (2Q22)
Rental Vacancy Rate: +4.5% (2Q22)
Sources: NAR, BLS, Federal Reserve Bank, MBA
Note: Rates listed are estimates and may not reflect actual rates depending on term, sponsor location, and other factors involved.
10. Austin multifamily rent pushed up by relocations
Average multifamily rents in Austin rose 10% YoY, reaching $1,700 a month. The huge number of migrations due to corporate relocations has further stressed the rental market as demand for housing continued to outpace supply. Office space rents also rose by 4.50% or $42 per sq ft. Analysts are projecting an increase in office space demand until 2023, which will directly impact the housing rental market.
9. NAHB: Lower density areas are attractive for multifamily and SFH growth
Home development has accelerated in small cities and rural areas because of the impact of the pandemic, according to the National Association of Home Builders’ (NAHB) chief economist Robert Dietz. As the pandemic brought a shift towards lower density neighborhoods, builders and renters are inclined to seek less dense and more affordable areas. Multifamily construction in large metro core areas dipped from 41.7% in 4Q19 to 39.3% in 2Q22.
8. 25% of millennials believe they are ‘forever renters’
According to Apartment List’s 2022 Millennial Homeownership Report, 1 in 4 millennials plan to solely rent a home instead of purchase one in their lifetime. This age group has become larger than Baby Boomers and now leads in terms of total would-be numbers in the home buying category. Affordability is cited as the top reason for such an outlook, followed by flexibility of renting, less maintenance and then financial risk.
7. Greensboro, NC has highest percentage rise in rent in the US
While NYC has one of the highest rental costs in the world, its rate of increase pales in comparison with that of Greensboro, NC, where rent hiked 74% in July. A renter would now pay the landlord of a typical one-bedroom apartment $1,289 per month. Still, this is below the nationwide average rent of $1,770 per month. Other cities that made the top list of the highest rent increases include Newport News, VA (60.7%), Tulsa, OK (59.8%), Long Beach, CA (48.5%) and Raleigh, NC (42.1%), according to Rent.com.
6. Economist: Remote work has changed San Francisco
Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather opined in an interview with The Real Deal that remote work has “irrevocably changed the housing market in San Francisco” because of the resistance of tech employees to shift to full-time in-office setup. However, Marcus & Millichap has already observed a change in trends as 1Q22 vacancy rates in the city’s multifamily market was at 6.3% YoY, dropping by 230 points. It is the lowest rate since 2020 with absorptions reaching 9,000 in the past four quarters. Fairweather adds that San Francisco needs to “find its identity post remote work” to lure back more tech employees.
5. NYC multifamily vacancy rate lowest in 20 years
Marcus & Millichap has reported that New York City already hit its third consecutive quarter of plunging multifamily vacancy rates. At the end of last quarter, it recorded as low as 1.8% with an effective rent 6% higher than the value in 2019. Supply is also on a promising track as the group reports that growth is already at an annual pace of more than 20,000 units. More supply is expected from the proposed adaptive reuse projects supported by the city’s $200 million state funding.
4. Atlanta tops survey of metros with most active apartment construction
Atlanta registered 21,508 apartment developments between 2013 and 2022, according to a published study by StorageCafe. Most of these projects are concentrated in Westside, Midtown and Old Fourth Ward with 7,000 more apartments in the pipeline. In addition, the downtown area has also registered the highest number of self-storage spaces with 670,767 sq ft of spaces added. Trailing Atlanta in apartment construction are Los Angeles (19,342), Houston (15,607) and Charlotte (12,836).
3. Commercial and multifamily mortgage delinquencies fall in 2Q22
The Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) latest Commercial/Multifamily Delinquency Report shows commercial and multifamily mortgage delinquencies declined in 2Q22 by 0.07 percentage points QoQ, reaching 0.49%. Jamie Woodwell, MBA’s vice president of commercial real estate research, announced that the rate is almost the same as pre-pandemic levels, which registered record-low delinquency rates.
2. CEO: Multifamily will remain a safe asset class
Mohsin Masud, the CEO and founder of AKRU, opined in a recent interview that multifamily properties will remain a safe haven for capital deployment because of their necessity, affordability, efficiency and liquidity. Masud added that multifamily properties have a tendency to sell for higher prices and lower cap rates, which benefit investors the most. He also expects investor interest will remain strong, especially in non-coastal regions.
1. Multifamily properties will continue to have stronger demand into 2023
Speaking to REJournals, Kia Crooms of Morgan Properties believes that many homeowners are now realizing the value of multifamily living because of the “lack of maintenance that comes with renting instead of owning.” She also noted that many renters are staying in their rented multifamily units because of the rise in interest rates that will make single family home purchases less affordable. In terms of demand, Crooms believes that the industry will continue to see strong numbers without any huge drop-off occurring.
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