The multifamily sector is continuing to outperform the rest of the commercial real estate market, said a report from Barclays Capital (BCS) released Friday.
Preliminary trends for 2012 Q2 released by REIS show that, on a national level, multifamily vacancies are now at 4.7% for this year’s second quarter, 20 basis points lower than the previous quarter.
This is the first time the rate has fallen below 5% since 2001, and only for the third time in 30 years. These lower vacancy rates have also pushed rents higher, with effective rents growing more than 1%.
New construction is meeting the uptick in demand, with 70,000 units scheduled for completion this year and anywhere from 150,000 to 200,000 to be completed next year.
And while this is a significant increase from recent years, it is still well below 2006 to 2007 levels, but Barclays expects “improving demographics and falling homeownership rates will be able to meet supply on a national basis.”
While multifamily is on the upswing, the office sector continues to drag. Vacancy rates in the office sector stayed steady at a historical high of more than 17% in Q2 2012, Barclays reported.
