Strong rise in employment in March
The Employment Situation Report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics stated that March employment levels all 4 of the multifamily-related job categories we track rose from the preliminary levels reported last month. Blowout month for...
New Section 8 income rule would cap rent growth for LIHTC properties
On January 9, HUD proposed changes to how they calculate Section 8 income limits. The summary of the change as posted on the Regulations.gov website read in part: “The United States Housing Act of...
Multifamily CMBS delinquency rate slightly higher in March
Trepp reported that delinquency rate for multifamily commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) loans rose slightly in March, increasing 3 basis points. Overall CBMS delinquency rate declines For delinquencies, Trepp focuses on loans that are 30 or more...
Construction job openings at near record high in February
The Job Openings and Labor Turnover (JOLT) report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) said that the number of job openings in February was 8.76 million. This was reported to be down 8,000...
Multifamily construction spending continues decline in February
The Census Bureau’s report on construction spending said that multifamily residential construction spending in February was down 0.16 percent from the revised level of the month before. Single-family residential construction spending was reported to...
Multifamily property price slide continues
CoStar reported that its value-weighted index of multifamily property prices fell 1.4 percent month-over-month in February 2024, the sixth decline in a row and the 17th decline in the last 19 months. This index...
Rent growth again positive in March
The latest rent report from Apartment List shows that the national median monthly rent growth in March was +0.6 percent, the second consecutive gain after several months of declines. Year-over-year rent growth was -0.8...
Renting cheaper than buying in top metros
A new report from Realtor.com finds that renting a starter home is less expensive than buying one in all 50 of the largest metros in the United States, sometimes by a wide margin. Assessing rents...
MSCI: Multifamily property price decline continues
The latest commercial property price report from MSCI Real Capital Analytics said that multifamily property prices fell 1.0 percent from their level of the month before in February. This is much faster than last...
Fed raises rate forecast for 2025
Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) met this week and decided to keep the Fed Funds rate unchanged. However, the Federal Reserve’s updated forecasts for key economic metrics projected that interest rates after 2024 will...
Fannie Mae lowers housing starts forecasts on higher interest rates
Fannie Mae’s March economic forecast calls for multifamily housing starts to decline modestly through the end of 2025. Single-family housing starts are expected to rise but at a lower rate than predicted last month. Fannie...
Multifamily completions hit 50 year high
The Census Bureau’s new residential construction report for February showed multifamily construction unit completions continuing their recent surge. In addition, both multifamily permits and multifamily starts rose from the low levels they reached last...
GSEs dominate growth in multifamily mortgages outstanding in Q4
A Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) report shows that the growth in multifamily mortgage debt outstanding in Q4 2023 was down from that in Q3. This is very different from the usual annual pattern where...
Lumber prices lead construction materials prices higher in February
The producer price index (PPI) report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) stated that construction materials prices were up 0.3 percent month-over-month in February on a seasonally adjusted basis. The index of components...
Rent growth inches higher in February
Yardi Matrix reported that national average apartment rent was up $1 in February compared to the revised level of the month before at $1,713 per month. The national average year-over-year apartment asking rent growth was...
