A recent report from Harvard University confirms several trends in the multifamily industry. More Americans are renting by choice, vacancies are down and multifamily development is up. And the need for more affordable rental housing shows the irreplaceable role rental housing plays in every community.
Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies has released an annual State of the Nation’s Housing report since 1988. Their 2012 report highlights the economic and demographic trends driving the country’s housing demand. The national rental vacancy rate fell to 8.7 percent in 2012, according to the report, the lowest level since 2001. Market conditions for professionally managed apartments were even stronger, with average vacancy rates at 4.9 percent. The brisk pace of growth in renter households is the reason for the rise in construction of new rental units by 258,000 in 2012, the report surmised. Multifamily building permits in many markets have surged past average levels seen in the 2000’s and activity in Austin, Raleigh and Bridgeport “approached all time highs.”
But the gap between the supply of affordable housing and demand for low-income quality rental housing reached 5.3 million in 2012, the report noted. The National Apartment Association welcomed Harvard’s report as an affirmation of the quality and professionalism of the nation’s rental housing owners and operators. Doug Culkin, President of the NAA expressed the NAA’s disappointment over the fact that so many Americans continue to struggle to find safe and affordable housing. “NAA and its affiliates look forward to continuing to work with policymakers at all levels of government on sensible and effective strategies to meet this need,” he said.
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