News & Trends

The rental housing industry had almost 4,000 jobs available across the county In January, according to a new apartment jobs report that will be coming out regularly from the National Apartment Association.

By John Triplett

Rental Housing Journal

Property management jobs in the rental housing industry are the most in demand right now, according to a new apartment jobs report from the National Apartment Association Education Institute.

The new report, which will be coming out monthly in the future, shows almost 4,000 apartment jobs were available in January. The report shows the need for all job types and skills in the high-demand rental housing industry. And, it shows job growth in the industry is going to be strong in the future.

Multifamily growth is strong as Phoenix is reinventing itself as a tech hub driven by a diverse economy, welcoming young professionals and investors looking for higher yields in secondary markets, according to a new report from Yardi Matrix.

Phoenix rents rose 3.2 percent in 2017, outpacing the 2.5 percent national growth rate. The average rate across the metro reached $1,020, below the $1,359 national average.

These and other highlights are summarized in Yardi Matrix’s new report, “Phoenix’s Strong Tailwind,” a microeconomic analysis of the city’s multifamily market.

 A Waco, Texas based franchise of trade service brands, Dwyer Group, has completed the add-on acquisition of Salt Lake City’s Real Property Management, the largest property management franchise in North America, according to a release.

Real Property Management specializes in franchising a system to franchisees who manage single-family homes, townhomes, condos, multiplexes and small apartment buildings without onsite management. Its services include finding and screening tenants, completing the lease agreements, collecting rent, and arranging for any necessary repairs. Real Property Management offices also manage the legal compliance for local, state and federal real estate law.

Seattle has passed Los Angeles and ranks as the No. 1 multifamily market for 2018, according to Marcus & Millichap’s 2018 North America Multifamily Forecast.

Seattle’s ranking is driven by strong employment, especially the tech section, and rapidly rising home prices that push up rental demand in the Seattle-Tacoma area. Portland rose from No. 6 to No. 5 in the ranking.

The 7% drop for commercial and multifamily construction starts at the U.S. level in 2017 reflected mostly a multifamily pullback, according to Dodge Data and Analytics.

Multifamily construction starts at the U.S. level in 2017 dropped 12% to $84.9 billion, which followed a 10% increase in 2016 ($96.1 billion).  Commercial building construction starts in 2017 slipped 3% to $109.8 billion, staying close to the 2016 level ($113.1 billion) achieved with a 22% hike that year, according to a release.

New research says demographic shifts and the sharing economy will lead to more homeowners with spare bedrooms being matched with long-term renters.

 “Home sharing will gradually take a sizeable dent out of housing demand,” write Mikaela Sharp and John Burns, of John Burns Real Estate Consulting. They say 44 million empty bedrooms await.

“Just like Uber matches car owners with passengers and Airbnb matches homeowners with short-term renters, new technology companies match homeowners with long-term renters. These sharing economy technologies will keep household formation and new home construction lower than most have projected,” they write.

Freshwater Investments has purchased The Lighthouse Apartments, a 76-unit property in Kent, Washington, for $16.5 million, according to a release.

This is the second property in the Seattle metro area that Freshwater has added to its portfolio. The company also owns the 93-unit Stinson Apartment Homes in Everett, WA.

 “The Seattle metro area continues to be a sought-after location with high potential. With this acquisition, we have almost doubled our portfolio here and created new opportunities for our investors,” Alex Rozenfeld, Freshwater Investments Founder and Managing Partner said in the release.

After first saying he wanted more study on the issue, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler now favors removing the exemption for small landlords who own only one property and require them to pay moving expenses if they evict a tenant for no-cause or increase rent more than 10 percent, according to reports.

Wheeler said in a statement last month  more information is needed before he would support removing the exemption for landlords who own only one property.

New research on the multifamily industry shows the need for developers, investors, property managers and architects to adapt to the shifting demographics and psychographics of the renter population in order to effectively meet the demand for 4.6 million new apartment units by 2030, according to the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC).

The apartment of tomorrow and the coming distruption

Car charging at apartment buildings for the growing number of electric vehicles can be a new source of revenue for the multifamily industry.

By Peter Vierthaler 

If you own an apartment building with parking spaces, you have just struck oil.

New technology creates significantly more electric capacity to charge cars in your garage or lot. Car charging is a new source of revenue. Parking spaces with car chargers rent for up to $50 more per stall.

Early adopters of car charging will realize more income and less vacancy. The cost of electricity can be billed back to the tenants.

Electric and chargeable hybrid cars are a rising share of the automobile market.