All four indexes of the National Multifamily Housing Council’s (NMHC) July Quarterly Survey of Apartment Market Conditions remained slightly below the breakeven level of 50, the fourth consecutive quarter indicating softening conditions. The Market Tightness (43), Sales Volume (47), Equity Financing (46), and Debt Financing (47) Indexes all improved from April, but still hovered just below 50.
“All four indexes are below 50 but rising, suggesting that the softening is less wide-spread than in previous quarters,” said Mark Obrinsky, NMHC’s SVP of Research and Chief Economist. “Despite some softness at the high end of the apartment market—due to construction having finally ramped up to the level needed—demand for apartments will continue to be substantial for years to come.”
The Market Tightness Index edged up from 41 to 43, as almost half of respondents (48 percent) reported unchanged conditions. One-third (33 percent) of respondents saw conditions as looser than three months ago, while the remaining 19 percent reported tighter conditions. This marks the seventh consecutive quarter of overall declining conditions.
The Sales Volume Index increased from 30 to 47, just shy of the breakeven level of 50. Twenty-seven percent of respondents reported higher sales volume than three months prior, compared to 33 percent that reported lower volume.
The Equity Financing Index increased four points to 46, with almost a quarter (24 percent) of respondents believing that equity financing was less available than three months prior. Sixteen percent thought that equity financing was more available compared to three months ago.
The Debt Financing Index increased from 41 to 47, showing a similar trend to the equity market. While a quarter of respondents (25 percent) reported worse conditions for debt financing compared to three months prior, another 19 percent disagreed, believing conditions had become more favorable.
About the Survey:
The July 2017 Quarterly Survey of Apartment Market Conditions was conducted July 10-July 17, 2017; 123 CEOs and other senior executives of apartment-related firms nationwide responded.
Related Stories
| Aug 11, 2010
CityCenter Takes Experience Design To New Heights
It's early June, in Las Vegas, which means it's very hot, and I am coming to the end of a hardhat tour of the $9.2 billion CityCenter development, a tour that began in the air-conditioned comfort of the project's immense sales center just off the famed Las Vegas Strip and ended on a rooftop overlooking the largest privately funded development in the U.
| Aug 11, 2010
Giants 300 Multifamily Report
Multifamily housing starts dropped to 100,000 in April—the lowest level in several decades—due to still-worsening conditions in the apartment market. Nonetheless, the April total is below trend, so starts will move progressively back to a still-depressed 150,000-unit pace by late next year.
| Aug 11, 2010
The softer side of Sears
Built in 1928 as a shining Art Deco beacon for the upper Midwest, the Sears building in Minneapolis—with its 16-story central tower, department store, catalog center, and warehouse—served customers throughout the Twin Cities area for more than 65 years. But as nearby neighborhoods deteriorated and the catalog operation was shut down, by 1994 the once-grand structure was reduced to ...
| Aug 11, 2010
Gold Award: Westin Book Cadillac Hotel & Condominiums Detroit, Mich.
“From eyesore to icon.” That's how Reconstruction Awards judge K. Nam Shiu so concisely described the restoration effort that turned the decimated Book Cadillac Hotel into a modern hotel and condo development. The tallest hotel in the world when it opened in 1924, the 32-story Renaissance Revival structure was revered as a jewel in the then-bustling Motor City.
