Learning humility through EV charging
I must admit openly, I have been spoiled by the simple payback of sustainability. With some energy efficiency upgrades having less than a three-month payback, I can make upgrading to granite look like a...
MSCI: Multifamily property prices rise in August
The latest commercial property price report from MSCI Real Capital Analytics said that multifamily property prices rose 0.1 percent in August from their level of the month before. This is the first increase since...
Invitation Homes reaches settlement with FTC
Invitation Homes has agreed to a proposed settlement order that would require the company to pay $48 million to be used to refund consumers the FTC alleges were harmed by its actions. The allegations...
Apartment investment environment shows slight improvement in Q2
Freddie Mac recently released its Apartment Investment Market Index (AIMI) for Q2 2024. The national index was up, but only by 0.3 percent in the quarter. The index was up 2.2 percent year-over-year. Viewing the...
Multifamily mortgage debt outstanding reported higher in Q2
The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported that multifamily mortgage debt outstanding rose by $19.35 billion in Q2 from the revised level of the quarter before. Total multifamily debt reached a level of $2.090 trillion....
Multifamily oversupply conditions are improving
Multifamily oversupply conditions are improving, but not out of the woods yet. The good news is that some relief is expected by 2025, but Sunbelt markets may take 12 to 18 months...
A matter of location
A recent article on Trellis said that automobile manufacturers are pulling back from electric vehicle production due to lags in sales compared with those of other types of automobiles. This raises the question for...
SFR rent growth rate edges lower
CoreLogic reported that their single-family rent index (SFRI) for July rose 2.8 percent from its year-earlier level. This is down 0.1 percentage point from last month’s reported year-over-year SFR rent growth rate and is...
Multifamily starts forecast revised lower
Fannie Mae’s September housing forecast calls for fewer multifamily housing starts in 2024 and 2025 than in last month’s forecast. The downward revision follows two monthly forecasts where the predictions for multifamily starts were...
Fed delivers large interest rate cut
Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) met this week and, in an unusual pre-election move, decided to lower their target interest rate by 0.5 percentage point. In addition, their projections now indicate that they will...
Multifamily completions surge in August
The Census Bureau’s new residential construction report stated that multifamily completions leapt to a multiyear high in August. However, multifamily starts fell despite higher multifamily permit issuance. The number of multifamily units under construction...
Builder sentiment rises as interest rates fall
With mortgage rates declining by more than one-half of a percentage point from early August through mid-September, per Freddie Mac, builder sentiment edged higher this month even as builders continue to grapple with rising...
Property managers like their job, but some detract the career path
MRI Software in conjunction with the National Apartment Association has released its 2024 Voice of the Property Manager Survey. According to the property manager survey, apartment managers like their jobs, but some...
Future-proof with level two
In 2013, the developer/operator that I worked for built our first project equipped with the ability to provide EV charging for our residents in Mountain View, California. For every unit, there was the ability...
Construction materials prices reported higher in August
The producer price index (PPI) report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) stated that construction materials prices were up 0.2 percent month-over-month in August on a seasonally adjusted basis. However, the change in...
