PHOENIX—The Metropolitan Phoenix multifamily market has been onthe upswing for some time. Across the Valley, numerous newapartment and condo projects are underway and investors areactively trading existing multifamily assets. And in the midst ofall this activity, real estate experts have identified arenaissance where many of Phoenix's existing, and sometimes mucholder, apartment communities are concerned as one of the drivingforces in the Valley's multifamily market.GlobeSt.com caught up with CBRE'sBrian Smuckler to discuss this trend.

CBRE's Brian Smuckler and Jeff Seaman, part ofthe company's multifamily investment properties team in Phoenix andspecialists in the B and C quality, private-capital, multifamilyinvestment market, point to strong market fundamentals and ademographic shift back toward centralized, urban, amenity-richneighborhoods as catalysts of this multifamily trend.

Over the past year, midyear multifamily vacancy ratesValley-wide have improved to 6.8 percent, down from 7.7 percent.Additionally, average rental rates across metro Phoenix haveincreased by 3.5 percent over the past four quarters. Numbers forcore locations are even more impressive with North Central Phoenixrecording a 5.5 percent decrease in vacancy year-over-year andrental rates in Central Phoenix up 8.1 percent from 2Q 2013 to 2Q2014.