Despite mass unemployment and underemployment, multifamily rental payments have held up far better than many industry experts expected amid the economic wreckage caused by the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Jobless claims were up by another 2.98 million last week, but within the bleak report, economists see a small sign of encouragement in the fact that the record number of continuing claims rose by less than half a million.

This was supposed to be a year marked by a healthy amount of new multifamily supply, as some 300,000 units were on pace to open by the end of 2020. But federal, state and local stay-at-home orders and other responses to the coronavirus pandemic will likely reduce that to around 250,000 units, according to projections by commercial real estate brokerage Marcus & Millichap and REIS, the property research arm of Moody’s Analytics.

Following an unprecedented 20.5 million drop in payroll last month, the April unemployment rate reached a record 14.7 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday.

Sam Zell, chairman and founder of Equity Group Investments Inc., discusses current market valuations and what the post-coronavirus world may look like. Zell, the billionaire known for buying up troubled real estate, said the Covid-19 pandemic will leave the same kind of impact on the economy and society as the Great Depression 80 years ago, with long-lasting changes in human behavior that imperil many business models. He speaks in an exclusive 40-minute interview with Bloomberg's Erik Schatzker.

The United States has had more than 1 million confirmed COVID-19 cases, with a death count approaching 70,000, as of Monday. And new reporting from the New York Times revealed that the Trump administration is "privately projecting a steady rise in the number of cases and deaths from the coronavirus over the next several weeks, reaching about 3,000 daily deaths on June 1 [...] nearly double from the current level of about 1,750."

Manufactured housing properties are not only surviving the economic crisis created by the spread of the novel coronavirus. By some accounts the sector is thriving compared to other types of real estate.

Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mark Calabria told HousingWire last month that his expectation was that approximately 1 million GSE mortgages would be in forbearance by May, but as the calendar flipped to May, it appears that Calabria undershot that projection by a sizable margin.

On the heels of worse-than-anticipated first-quarter GDP data, investors got additional economic data Thursday to reflect the ongoing damage being done to the U.S. economy as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

By the last week of April, 91.5 percent of renters across the U.S. have paid some or all of their rent, but industry leaders are urging lawmakers to provide more assistance for renters as they brace for how payments will pan out in May.

Class-C apartment tenants have been badly hurt by the economic shutdown precipitated by the novel coronavirus, crushing their ability to pay rents, thereby putting strain on those properties’ owners to continue to cover costs and mortgage payments.

Protection measures against the coronavirus continued to tear through the employment ranks, with 5.245 million more Americans filing first-time claims for unemployment insurance last week, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

Every part of the US economy will be altered by COVID-19. Commercial property is no exception. Coordinated efforts to contain the spread of the COVID-19 have abruptly halted much of the global economy.

Nearly a third of U.S. apartment renters didn’t pay any of their April rent during the first week of the month, according to new data to be released Wednesday by the National Multifamily Housing Council and a consortium of real-estate data providers.

Former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said the economy is in the throes of an “absolutely shocking” downturn that is not reflected yet in the current data.

JPMorgan Chase chief Jamie Dimon said Monday he expects the coronavirus crisis to include a “bad recession” and elements of financial strain similar to the 2008 downturn.

The average rents on apartments are already dropping, as the U.S. economy grinds to a halt and millions of workers have lost their jobs, been furloughed or have been asked to stay home to fight the rapid spread of COVID-19.

Sam Zell’s Equity Residential said it will halt evictions and rent increases for 90 days on its thousands of apartments across the country in response to the coronavirus emergency.

The COVID-19 pandemic is wreaking havoc on the U.S. economy, and data released Thursday morning reflected the severe damage being done to the labor market.

To date, U.S. economic data has done little to reflect the expected negative impacts from coronavirus-related slowdowns.

Until Monday.

The New York Federal Reserve released its latest Empire State Manufacturing survey Monday morning, which showed the report’s index of business conditions fell to its lowest level since 2009.

Billionaire investor Carl Icahn told CNBC on Friday he expects the U.S. commercial real estate market will crumble, much like the broader housing market collapse of 2008.

The global flight to the safety government debt continued on Friday as investors piled into U.S. Treasurys and sent the yield on the 10-year note to record lows.

Fears related to the potential global economic fallout from the coronavirus sparked a meteoric drop in the stock market last week, including a more than 4,000-point plunge in the Dow. Even as jittery global stock markets have worked to claw back from steep losses in trading this week, the question is how much of that contagion will spill over to impact commercial real estate?

The Federal Reserve announced an emergency rate cut Tuesday of half a percentage point in response to the growing economic threat from the novel coronavirus.

The average U.S. fixed rate for a 30-year mortgage fell to 3.45% this week, matching the three-year low set three weeks ago.

The rate declined as global money managers spooked by the coronavirus named Covid-19 piled into the U.S. bond markets, boosting competition for securities back by home loans.

One of the best-performing investments since last decade’s housing crash: trailer parks.

From the March 2009 stock-market bottom, shares of big mobile-home park owners Sun Communities Inc. SUI-0.44% and Equity LifeStyle Properties Inc. ELS +0.03% have returned a tech-like 4,137% and 1,186%, respectively, counting price changes and dividend payments. The S&P 500’s return has been 499%.

The Apartment Guide 2020 Annual Rent Report highlights current trends and price fluctuations that renters may experience in various places across the United States. The report compares rent prices for studio, one-bedroom, two-bedroom and three-bedroom apartments to determine which areas of the country or cities are becoming more expensive or more affordable for renters.

The top 10 markets saw a mixture of growth rates in this report. New York City and Washington D.C. were both on upward year-ver-year trends: New York City one bedroom rent was up nearly 8%, while D.C. two bedroom rent was up over 15%. On the flip side, cities that had rents down on all fronts, both on a monthly and year over year basis, included Seattle and San Diego.

South Florida will see nearly 16,000 apartments delivered this year, leading rents to flatten in markets with added supply, according to a recently released report.

Apartment rents have risen steadily across the country and while most people know that the cities with the most expensive rents include markets in the Bay Area and New York City, those markets did not see the largest growth on a percentage basis in the past decade.

Apartment List’s first quarterly Renter Migration Report of the new decade!

Conventional wisdom says the Federal Reserve won’t cut rates during an election year, to avoid looking like it’s favoring one candidate over another – unless there’s an economic shock so severe, it’s forced to act.

Who loves the sun? More Americans than ever, according to U-Haul.

The combination of strong fundamentals, low interest rates and intense interest from investors should make for another white hot year for the multifamily sector.

Weekly earnings for employees of small businesses grew at an annual rate of 4.1% at the end of the year, the fastest pace since the Paychex/IHS Markit Small Business Employment Watch began.

We asked seven economists and researchers about their 2020 predictions for the U.S. commercial real estate market.

Forget Seattle, Denver and San Francisco. Boise, Idaho, is poised to be the hottest housing market at the start of the next decade.

After a strong year in multifamily housing, expect an even stronger one in 2020, according to RealPage Chief Economist Greg Willett.

As high-net-worth (HNW) investors and family offices mull next year’s opportunities in commercial real estate, they might want to keep the multifamily mantra in mind.

On the whole, the nation’s housing prices continued to rise throughout this year and are expected to continue to do so into the foreseeable future.

The nation’s low mortage rates were the main driver of homebuyer demand throughout 2019, spurring an uptick in home sales across the country. But as more homeowners flocked to the market, housing inventory, which has been on a steady decline since the housing crisis, fell in housing markets from the east to the west.

The Federal Reserve left its benchmark rate unchanged on Wednesday and signaled it plans to hold steady through 2020, barring unexpected economic news.

The pace of rising home prices quickened in September and existing home sales ticked up 1.9 percent.

In December, the majority of the nation’s rental prices either declined or remained relatively flat during the month, Zumper said in its National Rent Report.

Just over a year ago, mortgage rates nearly hit 5%, levels that hadn’t been seen since the early part of this decade. But as we get ready to move into a new decade, mortgage rates are more than a full percentage point lower than that, comfortably back in the 3-4% range.

In the U.S., 24-hour cities—the cities that essentially are up all night—translate mainly to the coastal gateway cities: Boston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. Meanwhile, 18-hour cities are often the markets with above-average urban population growth, plus a lower cost of living and lower cost of doing business relative to 24-hour cities. The poster children for this emerging class of up-and-comers have been cities like Denver, Austin, Texas and Nashville, Tenn.

Apartment rents are likely to keep rising, even if the economy continues to slow over the next year, according to industry experts.

Florida will continue growing by more than 300,000 people a year and will top 22 million residents in 2022, according to a report posted online this week by state economists.

Foreign investors continue to spend money on apartment properties in the U.S., even while they may be slowing down on purchases of assets in other sectors. In the second quarter, cross-border investors became net sellers of U.S. commercial real estate overall for the first time in seven years, according to Jim Costello, senior vice president with research firm Real Capital Analytics (RCA).

Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae lenders are once again fighting hard to make deals.

America’s rental prices declined in September, as RentCafé indicates the nation’s average rent fell by $1 – the first decrease since 2017.

The U.S. foreclosure rate fell to the lowest level in two decades in July as a strong labor market made it easier for Americans to pay their bills.

The U.S. unemployment rate fell to a 50-year low of 3.5% in September as the economy added 136,000 jobs, slowing from August’s upwardly revised 168,000 gain, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

Life insurance companies are set to create a surge in multifamily lending in 2020, according to a new study from the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Investors are starting to pay less for apartment properties in markets that have some kind of rent regulation laws on the books.

Homeownership is becoming increasingly difficult to achieve — and a new report shows that relief isn’t coming any time soon.

Foreign investors continue to spend money on apartment properties in the U.S., even while they may be slowing down on purchases of assets in other sectors. In the second quarter, cross-border investors became net sellers of U.S. commercial real estate overall for the first time in seven years, according to Jim Costello, senior vice president with research firm Real Capital Analytics (RCA).

The top 3 markets all saw dips in rent prices last month as New York City fell from its 3 year high and San Francisco continued its downward trend. The rankings for the top 10 saw some movement in the middle and bottom, as Washington D.C moved up to become 6th, pushing Los Angeles down to 7th, and San Diego and Anaheim move into the top cities, both tied as 10th. Oakland also had a large 5.2% monthly one bedroom rental growth rate but remained firmly as 4th.

The nation's 150 major apartment markets have seen approximately 2 million new apartments built since 2010, but there's a problem. The number of renters in those cities have increased by about 2.5 million in that same time period. And with renting an apartment becoming more popular than it has in 20 years, that leads to many markets were demand exceeds supply.

The Federal Reserve is expected to cut rates once again when the Federal Open Markets Committee meets in September.

Two weeks ago Jyske Bank, Denmark’s third-largest bank, shocked the world by offering mortgages with a negative interest rate. Put simply, the bank would effectively pay customers to borrow money. It’s a bit more complicated than that, however, as borrowers have to pay fees that offset the savings.

Which cities are the best real estate markets and which are the worst? If you're a real estate agent, real estate investor, homeowner, homebuyer, or considering moving, you'll likely want to know the answer to that question.

Although multifamily occupancy rates keep climbing, with apartment occupancy rates in July reaching the highest level since 2000, multifamily construction is slowing.

This decade, more than 2 million new multifamily units have been added across the US. In terms of raw numbers, this volume hasn’t been seen since the 2.4 million new units introduced in the 1980’s. However, if we consider annual new units as a percent of existing capacity, the annual average of 2% for this decade falls well short of the 5% average from the 1980’s.

Delayed multifamily project completions are putting upward pressure on rent growth at new class-A buildings, according to data from research firm the CoStar Group.

Although the housing market continues to experience a slowdown in home price appreciation, new data from Zillow suggests the nation’s rental market is thriving.

It looks like the multifamily sector is set to have another strong year thanks to a combination of factors that will fuel demand for rental housing.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note broke below the 2-year rate early Wednesday, an odd bond market phenomenon that has been a reliable, albeit early, indicator for economic recessions.

In the next year, 5% of U.S. markets are predicted to depreciate, with Louisiana holding on to its title as the state with the most depreciating markets, claiming four of the 10 spots on the bottom market list.

The Federal Reserve lowered its benchmark rate by a quarter point Wednesday as an insurance policy not against what’s wrong with the economy now, but what could go wrong in the future. It was the first rate cut by the central bank in more than a decade.

San Francisco one bedroom rent hit another peak, up $20 to $3,720, as summer moving demand starts to drive up prices in this city. New York City one bedroom rent, on the other hand, took a slight dip after hitting its 3 year peak in our last rent report. 

San Francisco one bedroom rent hit another peak, up $20 to $3,720, as summer moving demand starts to drive up prices in this city. New York City one bedroom rent, on the other hand, took a slight dip after hitting its 3 year peak in our last rent report. 

In the D.C. suburb of Chevy Chase, Maryland, a massive apartment rental and condominium complex is going up, and apparently it can’t happen fast enough. Demand for rental apartments in and near cities across America is soaring, just when most thought it wouldn’t be. The expectation was that rental demand would fall as millennials aged into their homebuying years.

Payroll growth rebounded sharply in June as the U.S. economy added 224,000 jobs, the best gain since January and running contrary to worries that both the employment picture and overall growth picture were beginning to weaken. The unemployment rate edged up to 3.7% as labor force participation rose, according to the Labor Department.

San Francisco one bedroom rent hit another peak, up $20 to $3,720, as summer moving demand starts to drive up prices in this city. New York City one bedroom rent, on the other hand, took a slight dip after hitting its 3 year peak in our last rent report. The other top 10 markets saw some adjustments as San Jose kicked down Boston to rank as the 3rd priciest city and D.C. outpaced Los Angeles to become 5th. Oakland also fell to 7th. 

 A survey conducted by law firm Akerman LLP found 70 percent of respondents felt “more optimistic” about real estate in 2019 than last year. 

 Strong leasing activity in this young summer season has pushed occupancy to a level the nation’s apartment market hasn’t seen since the tail end of the tech boom in the early 2000s. 

(Bloomberg)—The U.S. housing slowdown is turning out to be a gift to apartment landlords. After all, those people who aren’t buying still need somewhere to live.

“The Southeast’s major metros have posted terrific apartment sector performance during this cycle,” says Greg Willett, chief economist for RealPage Inc., a provider of property management software and services based in Richardson, Texas. “Investment returns have rivaled the results generated in traditionally favored gateway markets, without the volatility sometimes seen in this part of the country during the past.”

In March, the nation’s home-sale prices remained virtually stagnant, inching backward only 0.1% from 2018 levels, according to new data from Redfin.

When it comes to real estate, gentrification might just be the touchiest subject of all. In search of reasonable housing prices, short commutes, and the tantalizing prospect of a kick-ass return on investment, professionals are moving en masse into lower-income neighborhoods. 

Borrowers have an unexpected second chance to get low-interest financing to buy or re-finance apartment properties, thanks to growing worries about the slowing U.S. economy.

Financial headlines have been full of worries about a possible recession and a downturn in commercial real estate markets. Recessions often precipitate a decline in real estate markets, but long periods of increasing construction and rising property prices may pose risks of their own.

By just about any way you look at it, 2018 was the best year for multifamily real estate this century: Renters paid more for housing than they ever have before, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae both had banner years, commercial and multifamily debt hit an all-time high, all while delinquencies remained at historic lows.