A good sign? Apartment vacancy rates starting to fall
August 20, 2010 | Dan Rafter | Print Article | Email this Article
Much of the commercial real estate news has been bad these days. The country might be in the middle of an economic recovery, but it sure doesn’t feel like it. And it especially doesn’t feel like it in commercial real estate. It’s a relief, then, to learn that at least one sector appears to be fully in recovery mode: multi-family.
It isn’t too surprising that multi-family would be the first of the major commercial real estate sectors to rebound. It’s been the strongest during the nation’s economic recession and slow recovery period.
A new survey by Rent.com shows that 42 percent of multi-family property owners are reporting lower vacancy rates this year than they did last.
This number would be even higher, of course, if it wasn’t for the country’s weak job market. According to the Rent.com survey, 70 percent of property owners and managers said that job losses were a factor contributing to their buildings’ vacancy rates. That’s a high figure, which is to be expected when the national unemployment rate still hovers near the 9.5 percent mark. This figure, too, though, is improving. In last year’s Rent.com survey, 90 percent of property owners and managers pointed to job loss as a primary reason for vacancies.
Tags | economy, multi-family, Rent.com, unemployment
© 2012 Real Estate Communications Group. Duplication or reproduction of this article not permitted without authorization from the Real Estate Publishing Group. For information on reprint or electronic pdf of this article contact Mark Menzies at 312-644-4610 or menzies@rejournals.com
