Monthly Archives: April 2013

Life Companies Look to Gain Multifamily Market Share

Posted on by

Bendix Anderson – nreionline.com

Life companies are in a strong position to lend in 2013–especially to the high-quality apartment properties they often target.

“We expect life companies will pick up business–they all have increased allocations this year,” says Faron Thompson, international director for Jones Lang LaSalle.

Life companies have built a reputation for competing very hard for high-quality multifamily properties and offering flexibility that few other lenders can match. This year, life companies appears to be growing their apartment lending into new areas as… Full Article

Rental, For-Sale Markets Buck Odds, Rise Together

Posted on by

Bendix Anderson – Mar. 1, 2013

The apartment and for-sale housing markets usually compete with each other. Historically, the math has been simple and brutal: If the percentage of people who own homes goes up, then the percentage of people who rent goes down. Good news for housing sales often means bad news for the apartment sector, if the number of households that need homes stays stable.

But what’s happening today is different, according to the economists at the National Association of Realtors (NAR). “Rental demand and housing sales are rising… Full Article

Too Soon to Worry About Apartment Overbuilding?

Posted on by

It’s natural to worry about whether apartment markets will get overbuilt.

The development pipeline is robust. But market researchers at the at National Multi Housing Council’s annual meeting, held January 22-23 in Palm Springs, Calif., said that the sector remains in the clear—for now. While the pipeline in some markets is at worryingly high levels, the national supply is within normal levels.

Apartment developers now have plans to build roughly 1.4 million new apartments nationally, according to data from NMHC. More than half of the apartment companies report they are buying developable land, lining up financing … Full Article