Q1 Metrics Show Apartments Going Strong

DALLAS—By a number of metrics, the first quarter demonstrated that multifamily‘s reign is far from over. Axiometrics said Wednesday that annual effective rent growth for apartments hit the highest level in three-and-a-half years, and also posted the best Q1 performance since 2006. Absorption during Q1 was up by double digits year over year, according to MPF Research, while Real Capital Analytics said last week that for the first two months of this year, investment sales volume in the sector rose 57% from the year-ago period.

Dallas-based Axiometrics says annual effective rent growth of 4.9% during Q1 represented a 21-basis-point increase over the 4.7% recorded in Q4 2014. The figure is the highest since Q3 2011, when rent growth was also 4.9%, and is the highest first-quarter rate since it reached 5.8% in Q1 ’06. Q1 rent growth was up about 59% Y-O-Y, according to Axiometrics data.