Census reports on multifamily housing construction for March 2020
The Census Bureau released its monthly new residential construction report for March 2020. It presents a mixed picture for multifamily housing construction with some softening of results but from a strong base. Permits are mixed The...
NMHC rent payment tracker – week 2
As part of its project to track rent payments being made during the corona virus shutdown, NMHC reported that an additional 15 percent of renters made at least a partial payment of their April...
Construction material prices stable in March
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released its producer price index report for March 2020. It showed that overall prices for processed goods for intermediate demand fell by 1.1 percent, the third monthly drop...
Estimating economic exposure to COVID-19
Two recent studies, one by Yardi Matrix and one by WalletHub, attempt to identify the regions of the country where the local economy is most likely to be impacted in response to the COVID-19...
Megacities in the future
An article by Edward Ring on the California Policy Center website titled “Sustainable Megacities” presents interesting facts and discusses a number of emerging technologies that may be employed in cities in the future. Hollowing out...
Yardi Matrix talks COVID-19 and multifamily
On April 1, Yardi Matrix held a webinar to discuss the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on the multifamily housing industry. The webinar ran for 90 minutes, including the question session. Highlights of the...
Yardi Matrix reports on rent growth
Yardi Matrix released its March 2020 report on the multifamily housing market. The report largely captures the state of the market shortly before the onset of the COVID-19 virus and the extraordinary reactions that...
Renters’ plans to move impacted by COVID-19
A pair of surveys by Rent Cafe looked at how the COVID-19 outbreak has affected the plans of renters who had been planning on moving. The first survey was taken before many cities and...
Cochrane on housing policy
John Cochrane, an economist at the Hoover Institution, was recently interviewed on the subject of housing, how we broke it and how it might be fixed through better housing policies. This blog summarizes his...
CBRE on COVID-19 impact
On March 18, CBRE held a flash briefing on the potential impact of the COVID-19 virus. This blog provides highlights from that briefing that address multifamily housing. COVID-19 impact on the economy The call was led...
MBA reports on multifamily mortgage debt
The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) recently issued their report on Q4 2019 debt outstanding on commercial property. This article summarizes the part of the report dealing with multifamily property debt. Measuring total multifamily mortgage debt Total...
Biden on multifamily housing
Given that Joe Biden is now the odds-on favorite to become the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party, it may time to take a closer look at his plans for housing. This article focuses...
Census releases multifamily housing construction data for February 2020
The Census Bureau released its monthly new residential construction report for February 2020. It presents a mixed picture for multifamily housing construction with areas of both strength and weakness. Permits decline The number of permits issued...
BLS reports modest change in construction material prices
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released its producer price index report for February 2020. It showed that overall prices for processed goods for intermediate demand fell by 0.9 percent, the second monthly drop...
Apartment List reports on rent growth
Apartment List has released its report describing rent changes through February, 2020. The report finds a slower rate of rent growth and lower average rent levels than those described by other sources. Defining the market Apartment...
