Southern California Aug Home Sales Rise

August was the first month since June 2010 to post a year-over-year gain in home sales. Last month was also the first since November 2009 in which all six Southland counties logged higher sales than a year earlier.

Rents Rise, Vacancies Go Down

Vacancy rates are falling fast (the excess supply is being absorbed). The falling vacancy rate is pushing push up effective rents. Note: The excess housing supply includes both apartments, condominiums, and single family homes. A record low number of multi-family units will be completed this year (2011). Only 8,700 apartments came on the market in Q1 (in the Reis survey area).

Buying Real Estate in the USA as a Foreigner

Foreign residents can buy and own USA property directly, but many investors prefer to own through a holding company, an LLC (limited liability company) usually set up in a tax friendly state like Texas, Delaware, or Nevada. In order to own property and collect rents or proceeds from sales, foreigners need to obtain a US Tax ID number and set up a bank account – both of which are easy once...

Apartments: Market Conditions Tighten

The Market Tightness Index, which examines vacancies and rents, rose to a record 90 from 78 last quarter. For all indexes, a reading above 50 indicates improving market conditions. Almost four in five respondents (79%) said markets were tighter (lower vacancies and/or higher rents) and—for the first time ever—not a single respondent thought conditions were looser.

Apartments: Increased Occupancy, Rents, and Net Income

April 26, 2011 From the Associated Estates Realty Corp (AEC) conference call, an apartment REIT in IN, OH, MI and PA (ht Calculated Risk): Looking at certain performance metrics throughout our portfolio, we continue to see residents staying longer – on average, 18 months. Also, it has been well publicized, households have a greater propensity to rent versus own as renting allow for...

Apartment Rentals Surge in U.S

The number of occupied apartments increased by 215,000 in the 64 largest U.S. markets in the first half, according to MPF Research. That’s almost double the units added in all of 2009 and the most since the firm began tracking the data in 1992. The vacancy rate declined to 6.6 percent last month from 8.2 percent in December. “Demand is pretty stunningly strong in the first half,” Greg Willett, a vice president at the Carrollton, Texas-based apartment-industry research firm, said in an interview.

Double-digit rent hikes are on the way

Apartment dwellers could be facing double-digit rent increases in the coming years as a shortage of new multifamily units coupled with a rise in prime renter-age households gives landlords clout they haven’t see since the mid-1990s, development experts said Thursday. “Demand pressures are building. It’s not bad today because rents have been down the last two years,” said William McLaughlin, an executive vice president with AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) in the Northeast. “But it feels a lot like 1992, when we were coming out of a deep recession … and we ended up seeing double-digit rent increases after that,” he said.