Rental housing vacancies in the Denver metro area dropped from 5.5 to 4.9 percent year-over-year, first-quarter data indicates.
That is the second-lowest rate the Colorado Division of Housing and the Apartment Association of Metro Denver have recorded since 2001, and the trend is reportedly consistent throughout most of the area. As a result, apartment rents in the region grew 4.5 percent over the same time period, the largest surge the region has seen for a decade. The most recent rent increase that exceeded this one was an 8.7 percent spike
Difficulties experienced by consumers and real estate industry stakeholders may be caused partly by problems with appraisals, which new data suggests may be inaccurate in a number of cases.
Information on housing transactions suggests that thousands of purchase prices and appraisal values may have been heavily divergent, the New York Times reports. Researchers found at least 121 cases in which the appraised value of a unit was more than double the sale price, and another 132 in which appraised values were less than 70 percent of the sale price.
Appraisals
Americans are renting more than they have in years, with the housing industry leading the trend as the homeownership rate has fallen from about 69 to below 65 percent.
Businesses are increasingly offering rentals of everything from cars to college textbooks, according to the Wall Street Journal. Where past perceptions of real estate tended to emphasize the advantages of homeownership, such as building equity, people are now more sensitive to the potential disadvantages. Experts note that owning a home can effectively prevent people from moving
Lawmakers recently heard testimony on the REO-to-Rental Initiative from Meg Burns, senior associate director for housing and regulatory policy at the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
The program, which has been in the works for some time, is currently at the pilot stage. Various housing units currently held by Fannie Mae will be sold in bulk to private investors as a test of the concept, to determine whether bulk sales are worth pursuing further. During this first trial, many of the properties selected are already occupied. This is because of
California state lawmakers have passed a new law that will require rental housing communities to have access to on-site recycling.
Those who fail to comply with the law's requirements may be subject to liens and fines, in amounts to be determined locally, according to UNITS magazine. This will impact investors, residents and rental managers. One legislator indicated that, while 70 percent of the state's homeowners have access to recycling services, the number may drop lower than 40 percent for renters.
Similar laws are scheduled for implementation
Rental housing is expected to continue performing strongly in the foreseeable future, according to the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (NAREIT).
Vacancies have fallen significantly since they peaked in 2009 as more Americans choose to rent, rather than purchase, housing. NAREIT vice president of research and industry information Calvin Schnure recently stated that demand for rentals has grown to the highest level seen since 1993 as Americans have begun to form new households and disperse.
During the economic downturn,
Analysts' projections indicate rental apartment vacancies in Louisville, Kentucky, will fall to about 4.1 percent this year, perhaps lower for high-quality housing units.
As a result, rental managers and owners may benefit from increases in asking and effective rents, which Marcus & Millichap predicts will grow about 2.9 and 3.8 percent, respectively, to $679 and $658 per month. These stronger fundamentals are expected to result from increased hiring by employers in the metro area, as companies including Ford, General Electric and UPS add
Approximately 16.1 percent of entries on multiple listing services are single-family rentals, more than twice as many as in 2006.
Investors are being drawn in by the availability of relatively cheap, distressed properties and the demand for housing, particularly rentals. With the homeownership dropping, many Americans who no longer own houses may still wish to live in them, rather than apartments. As a result, Real Estate Economy Watch reports, the business is now worth about $3 trillion and still growing.
More than 20 million rental homes
Middle Tennessee's rental markets is experiencing low vacancy rates and some rent growth, putting pressure on area residents as they strive to cope with lower household incomes.
Average monthly rents grew to $790 during the first quarter of 2012, the highest average during the beginning of any year since the economic downturn. This was due to occupancy rates nearing 95 percent, according to the Greater Nashville Apartment Association.
At the same time, the organization reports that household incomes have dropped substantially, with 39.1 percent
Rental managers have a window of opportunity in which they can raise rents, according to one real estate investment trust.
Equity Residential officers recently indicated during a conference call that they believe the current level of demand in the rental housing market will support further rent growth, GlobeSt.com reports. While some residents might depart in search of lower-priced housing, they expect the overall level of demand to bring in new tenants quickly.
How long the window of opportunity remains open may depend on local factors. The
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