2Q19 Witten Advisory Excerpt: The favorable overall supply/demand dynamics for the nation carried over to most local markets – with all but 7 reporting leasing rates outstripping net supply. If we went back a year, only 15 metros – rather than 36 – would have reported more demand than supply and thus rising occupancy rates. …
Details1Q19 Witten Advisory Excerpt: Total 5+ starts (including a few condos) are holding in the mid-300Ks, but easing a bit. To be candid, we’ve been expecting apartment starts to slow down for a few years now, but that trend has not materialized, yet. We’ve seen data on rampant cost increases (especially around labor) for years…
Details1Q19 Witten Advisory Excerpt: As part of that headline volatility, recent economic data has bounced around considerably. Perhaps that’s due to the gyrations in the bond and stock markets, the government shutdown, extreme weather, or 1Q biases in the collection procedures, but we don’t know for certain. What we do know is in the above…
DetailsExcerpt from the 4Q18 Witten Advisory: The above chart illustrates apartment starts rates across our markets. Here, there are two major, and diametrically opposed, trends. First, starts have fallen off in two-thirds of markets compared to a year ago. Second, starts are at all-time highs and rising in four leading mid-tier markets – Orlando, Austin,…
DetailsExcerpt from the 4Q18 Witten Advisory: The “double-barreled blitz” of rising mortgage rates and solid increases in home prices should result in waning homeowner affordability. Home appreciation reached nearly 6% over the past year, while mortgage rates rose by 60 bps, pushing principal and interest payments up almost 14%. Double-digit P&I increases should continue through…
DetailsExcerpt from the 4Q18 Witten Advisory: As the headline in the chart points out, for the first time in three years, absorption exceeded net completions. With so many new projects in lease-up, it’s not surprising that leasing surged, hitting 260,000 units – the highest level since late 2010. What is surprising is that demand soared…
DetailsExcerpt from the 3Q18 Witten Advisory: Even with lots of new product, Orlando led the nation in rent growth, with occupancy far above its long-term average…i.e., unusually little vacancy in the existing market. On the other hand, Austin and Nashville had great demand but very little pricing power. The top 10 list on the left…
DetailsExcerpt from the 3Q18 Witten Advisory: The chart above presents the growth in 20- to 34-year-olds across the 43 major markets. Although this data was just released recently, it actually covers the period from mid-2016 to mid-2017. The green columns show the magnitude of young adult gains in each market, with Dallas ranking #1 with…
DetailsExcerpt from the 2Q18 Witten Advisory: The charts on the right illustrate how different the customers are for single-family rentals and apartments. Renters who choose multifamily are typically younger and have small households (probably living alone), while single-family renter households are most likely to have at least three persons and tend to be middle-aged. In…
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