LOS ANGELES—Although many economists are talking about slow jobrecovery, the commercial real estate space isexperiencing one of the hottest multifamilymarkets ever. To find out about this dichotomy and look at thecorrelation between unemployment and themultifamily market a little better, we sat down withStarPoint Properties CEO PaulDaneshrad. In this interview, Daneshrad explains howfluctuations in unemployment have a direct impact on the market,and how the current unemployment rates and job recovery isimpacting the multifamily market today and in the future.

GlobeSt.com: How do fluctuations in the unemploymentrates affect the multifamily market?

Paul Daneshrad: The employment rateand “quality of employment” has a direct impact on the multifamilymarket because the renter needs income before they can afford topay for an apartment. There is no general rule when it comes to thecorrelation of the employment rate and the multifamily market, butour internal statistics show that every 1% increase or decrease(100 basis points) in the unemployment rate correlates to a loss orgain of 800,000 renters. The quality of employment also matters.Our current unemployment figures include part-time employment,which does not allow an individual enough income to support theaverage rent in the US.