New Data Affirms Continued Growth of Rental Market

The rental market is showing no signs of slowing down, according to the National Multifamily Housing Council’s (NMHC) latest Quarterly Survey of Apartment Market Conditions.

Working on a metric where 50 is the breakeven level, the NMHC found apartment market conditions in the third quarter were more than vibrant, with growth registered in the four survey indexes: market tightness (53), sales volume (53), equity financing (52) and debt financing (54). Consumer demand rose for the seventh consecutive quarter, while construction activity was mostly on the upswing across the country.

“The strong apartment industry run-up shows no signs of ebbing any time soon,” said Mark Obrinsky, NMHC’s senior vice president of research and chief economist. “Markets remain pretty tight, even as new apartment construction continues to increase. Acquisition capital remains plentiful, although some [survey] respondents noted that development capital remains focused primarily on infill locations in central cities. For debt capital, lower Treasury yields have countered the rising spreads, leaving rates in a good place.”