MF Ticks Ahead As Home Price Gains Slow

WASHINGTON, DC—Even as this month’s reports on single-family housing sales show deceleration in price increases, the fundamentals for multifamily remain solid. That’s the word from the National Multifamily Housing Council and the National Association of Realtors, both of which reported that vacancies ticked downward in the second quarter.

Citing two recent reports, the NMHC noted that vacancy rates “decreased to pre-recession levels by one measure and remained unchanged by another” Specifically, the Census Bureau’s  Q2 apartment vacancy rate for all rental properties was 9.5%, unchanged from both Q1 of 2014 and from a year ago. Conversely, MPF Research’s national vacancy rate for investment-grade apartments fell 60 basis points from Q1 and 30 bps year-over-year to 4.4%.