Category Archives: Real Estate Owner/Investor

Multifamily Occupancy Rates Stabilize, Rent Growth Slows

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Aug 31, 2012 10:32 AM, By Bendix Anderson, Contributing Writer

Apartment rents are still growing across the country, but not as quickly as they were in the summer of 2011, when growth in effective rents peaked.

“Things have slowed since a year ago,” says Jay Denton, vice president of research for data firm Axiometrics Inc., based in Salt Lake City. “The growth rate has slowed for rents… The growth for occupancies is starting to flatten out.”

Axiometrics predicts that average apartment rents will settle into a steady pace of growth over the next few years, similar to rental markets in the mid-1990s, as occupancy rates stay very high.

The percentage of occupied apartments appears to be settling in at close to 95 percent. The national occupancy rate actually dropped very slightly… [Full Article]

Investors Look to Secondary and Tertiary Markets for Multifamily

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Aug 8, 2012 11:53 AM, By Bendix Anderson, Contributing Writer

Investors tired of paying super-high prices for apartment properties might follow the lead of Panther Properties Investment LLC, which just bought the Effingham Parc Apartments, located a few miles outside of Savannah, Ga.

“We are at that point in the cycle when in search of yield, investors look to secondary and even tertiary markets,” says Dan Fasulo, managing director of data firm Real Capital Analytics, regarding the sale, which closed in July.

The Effingham deal could represent the shape of things to come—as investors once again begin to pay respectable prices for class-A assets in these strengthening secondary markets. Panther Properties paid $30.8 million for Effingham, or about $87,500 per apartment for the class-A, 352-unit property. The capitalization rate for the deal.. [Full Article]

Observers Say Concerns Over Multifamily Overbuilding are Overblown

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Jul 10, 2012 2:17 PM, By Jennifer Popovec, Contributing Writer

After several years of little new apartment construction, development activity has ramped up. But industry experts aren’t worried about overbuilding. The number of units under construction is still below historic norms. Plus, most properties coming online today are leasing quickly—with some rental rates well above expectations.

“We’re coming off two exceptionally low years of new deliveries, and we’re still well below the long-term average,” says Michael Ging, Alliance Residential Company’s (ARC) Florida managing director of development. “I don’t see where we’re going to have an oversupply condition.” ARC’s newest property, [Full Article]

Commercial Properties are Returning to Health, but Property Managers Remain on Active Duty

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Jul 10, 2012 2:29 PM, By Elaine Misonzhnik, Senior Associate Editor

A property manager’s job is never done. Especially not in today’s world, where the need to retain old tenants and attract new ones, combined with those tenants’ heightened expectations for round-the-clock service, have left property managers with more responsibilities than ever.

Just a few years ago, property management was about basic building services: contract negotiations, rent collection, cleaning and maintenance, says Dan Pufunt, president of property management with Jones Lang LaSalle in Chicago. Today, property managers also have to [Full Article]