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Strategies & Market Trends : The Residential Real Estate Crash Index -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: GraceZ who wrote (177973)	1/19/2009 2:02:57 PM
From: Jim McMannis	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 306849

Rents dropping marketwatch.com{FE5BA0DB-FBF3-4511-9771-80B430290E19} fewer people are buying homes, you'd think that rental properties would be in high demand. But job losses and a sour economy have also eroded demand for apartments, according to the latest data from the National Multi Housing Council. "Once again, apartment firms are facing tough market conditions not of their making," said Mark Obrinsky, NMHC's chief economist, in a news release. "Earlier in the decade the bubble-induced rise in homeownership eroded apartment demand; now the economic and financial collapse caused by the bursting of that bubble is taking a toll." Prospects for the apartment industry are strong in the long term, with the number of people between 20-34 years of age -- those most likely to rent -- rising rapidly. "For now, though, that demographic advantage is being trumped by the worsening job market, which is leading more people to move back in with family or take on roommates to save on housing costs," Obrinsky said. Consider NMHC's "Market Tightness Index," a measure of changes in occupancy rates and/or rents. The index declined to 11 in January from 24 three months ago. A reading above 50 indicates that apartment-firm executives believe market conditions are improving; below 50 means they're worsening. Read more real estate news in this week's pages, including the weekly mortgage rate data and reasons why prepaying a mortgage might not make sense today. Those in the market for an apartment right now will see the silver lining in the struggles of local apartment markets: For those people, less competition for quality rentals could mean getting a better apartment for their money. -- Amy Hoak, Real Estate writer