Marisol at Viera, a new 282-unit class A multifamily community in the heart of the burgeoning Viera Planned Unit Development (PUD), just traded hands.

MIAMI—As I said in my column earlier this month, Nobody likes to hear the “R” word. But more people are debating it.

Now, one more industry watcher is entering the debate. Noah Miller, vice president of acquisitions at Pensam Capital.

Miller is Miami bullish about the multifamily market in South Florida. Pensam is a top player in the region as a property owner and operator, owning and managing 3,000 units across the Southeast.

The firm also has 10 Southeast properties in its preferred equity portfolio, totaling another 2,800 multifamily units and typically provides $3 to 15 million in capital in an investment for a three- to five-year term. All told, Pensam's property value is north of $900 million representing 9,000 multifamily units.

“In our view, South Florida continues to perform as one of the top rental markets in the nation,” Miller tells GlobeSt.com. “In fact, the Miami-Dade-Broward-Palm Beach metropolitan area is now the eighth most populated MSA in the nation, recently surpassing a population of 6 million.”

Miller is responding to Jack McCabe, owner of McCabe Research & Consulting. At the RealShare Apartments East conference, McCabe wasn't at all shy about his remarks.

“I really believe there's going to be a recession this year,” McCabe told listeners. “A lot of people think I'm crazy—they did 12 years ago. I believe the market forces that are underway right now are such are going to take effect on the US this year, especially the global recession.”

Nevertheless, Miller is still bullish. While all three counties have seen rapid population growth, Broward County has led the way with an 8.5% rise in the last five years, while both Miami and Palm Beach counties saw a 7.8% growth rate, according to his research.

“This strong population growth has kept South Florida occupancies high as Miami Dade is seeing vacancy of just 2% while Broward and Palm Beach are seeing vacancy rates of only 4%,” Miller says. “Job growth continues to be strong in South Florida where in Broward County, job growth was 4.4% higher than last year, Palm Beach was 2.3% higher than last year, and Miami Dade was around 2% higher.”

Miller understands the high levels of inventory that McCabe and others point to. But he believes due to continued interest in South Florida, population growth and job growth will ensure a continued high level of absorption.

“While we have gotten use to rent growth of 5% to 7% over the last 24 months and occupancies between 96% to 98%, we may see a slight interruption from these high numbers and will need to get more comfortable with 2% to 3% rent growth and occupancies closer to 95% in the near future,” Miller says. “Overall, South Florida is a great long term market for any real estate investor.”

MIAMI—As I said in my column earlier this month, Nobody likes to hear the “R” word. But more people are debating it.

Now, one more industry watcher is entering the debate. Noah Miller, vice president of acquisitions at Pensam Capital.

Miller is Miami bullish about the multifamily market in South Florida. Pensam is a top player in the region as a property owner and operator, owning and managing 3,000 units across the Southeast.

Miller is responding to Jack McCabe, owner of McCabe Research & Consulting. At the RealShare Apartments East conference, McCabe wasn't at all shy about his remarks.

Instant Insights /

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