Upside Seen in Down Multifamily Market

DENVER-Ten years of incredible rent growth and soaring property values have come to a halt, little rent growth is expected, and vacancies are anticipated to hit 10%. What’s an owner of a multifamily rental building to do?One thing is to trade up to a larger property, taking advantage of low interest rates, say CB Richard Ellis apartment brokers Steve Rahe and Craig Stack.

“Investors have been on the fence this year about selling, with concerns that they are selling to a slowing economy,” they say in a recent report. ”However, with so few properties for sale and buyer demand as strong as ever, prices haven’t dropped as much as many buyer had hoped.”

They note it is unlikely that mortgage rates will stay this low for an extended period of time, so now is the time to buy or refinance.

But low mortgage rates are a double-edged sword when it comes to apartments, they note. Many renters are also taking advantage of them and moving out of apartments, driving up vacancies.Still, “Denver is poised to ride out this economic downturn in stride, and recover with strength,” they say. “Now is a good time to invest or reinvest, when there is a bubble of over development and when the economy has good long-term prospects.