Market Data

Commentary and Data Supplied by Dean Crist, Senior Economist, National Association of Home Builders Apartment Starts: The roller coaster continues as a steep drop in starts (at a seasonally-adjusted annual rate) for March more than offset February’s gain. While for-rent and for-sale multifamily aren’t differentiated in the monthly data, a majority of current starts are rentals.Rent Changes: Rent growth has slowed in comparison to the entire consumer price index, but that’s to be expected, since the entire CPI includes items such as gasoline, food and beverage costs, and medical care—all of which are rising faster than rents.Interest Rates: The Prime…

ern California, this is a very positive environment,” adds Greenburger.Taxi riders take virtual condo toursWith a marketing idea that could only work in New York, the Extell Development Company is giving 1,000 taxicab riders a virtual tour of its condominium, The Lucida.Each time a new fare enters a cab, a television segment on the Lucida will play on Open House TV using Taxi 2.0, the interactive television installed in New York City taxis.The 90-second broadcast of the Upper East Side’s first LEED-certified residential green building will be viewed by more than one million cab riders before the program’s conclusion in…

Commentary and Data Supplied by Bernard Markstein, Director of Forecasting, National Association of Home Builders Economics Interest Rates: Over the last six months, increasing weakness in the overall economy has resulted in consistently lower rates for each of these three indexes.Building Materials: While overall construction materials prices have been rising at a moderate pace, there is a pattern of declining prices in softwood lumber, plywood and gypsum.Apartment Starts: Starts remain at relatively low levels, as apartment developers wait for land prices to drop far enough to make the numbers work.Rent Changes: The recent rise in the Consumer Price Index will…

By Aniruddha Joshi, Hirco GroupThe two big emerging markets that now lead the news are China and India, but there are three key differences between these fast-developing economies that real estate investors need to understand. These market differences are: India enjoys consumption-based growth vs. export-based growth in China;India’s economy is market-driven vs. government-driven; andGrowth is based on private consumption vs. infrastructure investment.The India story is very much about growth based on consumption, as opposed to China’s, which is export-led. To illustrate that, I often say, “China’s growth depends on an American consumer walking into Wal-Mart, whereas India’s growth depends on…

Commentary and Data Supplied by Robert Sheehan, Consulting Economist for the National Apartment AssociationBuilding Materials Prices: All of the selected building materials prices declined in December with the exception of cement. And cement prices were flat. The housing recession has taken pressure off building materials prices for the past several months. Apartment Starts:Multifamily starts in December fell to their lowest rate since February 1994 and apartment starts were at their lowest point since July 1994. A collapsing condo/co-op market is dragging down the multifamily sector, but rentals are also being impacted by a troubled economy and increased rentals of condo/co-op…

By Amanda Nagler, Coldwell Banker Commercial WESTMACDriven by the city’s attractions and overall beauty, Los Angeles is renowned for its constant population growth and continuous influx of new residents. In fact, over the last few years, the market has added thousands of new residents and even greater gains are anticipated between 2008 and 2010. The LA market also experienced employment growth in 2007 (albeit slight), which has helped to maintain these current population increases. What continues to fuel the local Los Angeles apartment market is that a good portion of these new residents seek out rental units instead of purchasing…

Commentary and Data Supplied by Robert Sheehan, Consulting Economist for the National Apartment AssociationApartment StartsMultifamily starts rose for the third time in four months in November. Rental housing starts are offsetting declines in condo/coop activity. It is not clear that further strengthening will occur in the short run because low household formations and waning consumer confidence are limiting factors.Rent ChangesStrength continues in net effective rent increase with a 4 percent rise in November from the same month a year earlier. Overall consumer prices did exceed rent increase for the first time in 15 months in November as a result of…

t was already a fairly conservative construction pace.Farther south and west, Memphis employers are forecast to add 11,000 positions by year’s end, a 1.6 percent increase, according to a third-quarter Apartment Research Report from Marcus & Millichap. Builders will deliver approximately 200 new apartments to the Memphis area by year’s end, reports Marcus & Millichap. Metrowide vacancy should decline 20 basis points to 10.5 percent by year’s end, as modest additions to supply will be met by increased demand related to the metro’s employment growth. Asking rents are forecast to increase 1.9 percent to $650 per month, according to the…