News
MULTIFAMILY FUNDAMENTALS
February 28, 2011
?It's the jobs, stupid. And we're not getting them.? That's Dale Henson's conclusion when it comes Atlanta's multifamily market fundamentals. We recently met with Dale and local real estate brokerBob Nagel at the Capital City Club in Brookhaven. Occupancybarely budged from 88.3% at the end of 2009 to 89.6% at the end of 2010 with average rents remaining flat at $763, according to Dale Henson Associates' Atlanta Apartment Market Tracker. That coincided with a continued plunge in new product—only 168 units under construction last year. Even if job growth spikes in the near future, it still won't cause a development spree for some time. ?If we had job growth, even moderate, we're still not going to have a need for significant new product in 2011 and probably into 2012,? Dale says. The one positive trend was an upswing in occupancy in urban apartments, which jumped from 91% to 94% last year. Dale says that's indicative of tenants trading up on apartment quality. |