For insights into how the current economy is impacting the apartment industry, don’t miss Laura Calugar’s podcast with Paula Munger!
With GDP growth in 2024 averaging 2.5 percent, the American economy is in good shape at the beginning of this year. The labor market remains strong, wage growth is elevated and nobody is forecasting a recession. However, stringent immigration policies from the current White House administration could pose risks.
“If millions of people are deported, it’s absolutely going to impact the labor market, especially those most in-demand occupations that don’t require a college degree, so things like construction, food service and hospitality, or home health aides,” said Paula Munger, vice president of research at the National Apartment Association, in the latest NAA Insights podcast. And AI doesn’t appear to be able to help very much on that front.
Today, apartment deliveries are at 50-year highs, but completions are expected to drop over the next 12 months. Developers are dealing with high interest rates, high costs and difficulty obtaining construction financing, so multifamily starts are anticipated to decline. However, the American economy is bound to remain healthy and that should boost the apartment sector.
Here’s what else Munger told Multi-Housing News Senior Editor Laura Calugar in this podcast:
- The American economy in 2024 (0:52)
- Why the tides have turned toward an employers’ market (1:32)
- Changes in immigration policy (2:27)
- Will AI be able to help? (3:27)
- GDP and economic forecasts (5:32)
- Interest rates (6:28)
- Inflation (7:38)
- Housing supply and demand (8:55)
- Apartment construction starts and deliveries (9:49)
- What does all of this mean for rent growth? (10:31)
- U.S. areas investors will favor this year (11:07)
- Things to be optimistic about (12:32)
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