News

There is No Getting Back to “Normal” “It’s been about 1 year since the lockdowns began, and the world is slowly opening up. Some people are wondering, “When will things get back to normal?” – and the answer is never. Whatever “normal” was, is now gone because the fundamentals of the world have changed. The…

Friday Economic Update | 3.05.21 Data Updates: 3/1 to 3/5: NACM credit managers’ index, ISM manufacturing, ISM services, STLFSI, weekly unemployment claims, temporary employment, and yield curve;.2/22 to 2/26: CNFAI, weekly unemployment claims, STLFSI, and University of Michigan consumer sentiment (month end); 2/15 to 2/19: Private building permits, retail sales, industrial production, capacity utilization, weekly…

Freddie Mac Sees Improving Multifamily Sector for 2021 “After facing many pandemic-related challenges in 2020, Freddie Mac sees several reasons for optimism that the multifamily market will rebound in 2021 including a boost in originations and positive rent growth in most markets. The Freddie Mac Multifamily 2021 Outlook projects overall multifamily origination volume will reach…

5 Things Teleworkers Want in a New Apartment “2. LARGE FLOORPLANS Before the pandemic, most renters preferred living in locations closer to entertainment hubs and their jobs, even though that meant paying more for less space, according to nationwide apartment search website RENTCafé. But the health crisis reversed that trend and urged the same renters…

Coastal Apartment Rents May Have Reached Bottom “Although the data continue to show significant regional variation, the markets that have been most heavily impacted by the pandemic are beginning to enter calmer waters,” the report states. “In the pricey coastal metros where rents have been plummeting, this month’s data implies that we may have reached…

U.S. Apartment Rents Near Recovery in January “Preliminary statistics for January show that average rents for U.S. apartments now are within a hair of the all-time highs seen in early 2020, as more individual metros are moving back into price growth mode. Across the country’s largest 150 metros, effective asking rents for new leases in…

Friday Economic Update | 2.26.21 Data Updates: 2/22 to 2/26: CNFAI, weekly unemployment claims, STLFSI, and University of Michigan consumer sentiment (month end); 2/15 to 2/19: Private building permits, retail sales, industrial production, capacity utilization, weekly unemployment claims, STLFSI, and existing home sales; 2/8 to 2/12: NFIB small business optimism, nonfarm job openings, nonfarm hires,…

Final Analysis of California’s August Blackouts Yields Few Surprises and a Tight Deadline for Solutions “The final report on California’s rolling blackouts in August is out — and its key findings for what caused the state’s heatwave-driven grid emergency haven’t changed much from initial findings. Simply put, the heat waves that blanketed the U.S. West…

Underwriting Adjusts As Pandemic Continues “Here’s a secret to CRE underwriting in the COVID era: once the initial shock of the pandemic wore off, underwriters haven’t been as conservative as many had feared. Of course some asset classes almost write themselves: for instance, in some markets multifamily has returned to pre-pandemic pricing making the underwriting…

Building Permits Dipped 23 Percent in L.A. During Final Months of 2020 “Even as COVID-19 has continued to spread in Los Angeles, developers have pushed forward with construction on a handful of large, visible projects in neighborhoods such as Downtown and Hollywood. But while new towers have continued to reshape the region’s skyline, new statistics…